Max Dowman continued to announce himself as one of English football's brightest young talents, netting twice as Arsenal beat Ipswich Town 4-2 in the Carabao Cup. Yet manager Mikel Arteta was quick to stress that the 16-year-old's rise must not be accelerated despite the eye-catching performance.
Dowman started at Portman Road after spending much of the season on the substitutes' bench, having featured 13 times for Arsenal last term. Handed a full 90 minutes, he repaid the faith with two well-taken finishes. The first came from a mazy individual run in which he beat several Ipswich defenders before slotting the ball home, while his second showed composure as he found the bottom corner.
The brace made Dowman only the second 16-year-old to score twice in a single game for a Premier League club in any competition, following Wayne Rooney's feat for Everton against Wrexham in the League Cup back in 2002.
Arteta was full of praise for his teenage forward but insisted the club must manage his progress carefully. "He is 16 years old and we have to be really cautious," the Arsenal boss said. "We don't want to stop him, we don't want to put the brakes on him, we need to develop him and we are fully aware what he needs. He will have opportunities." Arteta also described Dowman's quality in action, calling him "unbelievable" and "unpredictable," adding that he was "so fluid, so nice to watch."
Dowman's emergence last season was already the stuff of records. He became the youngest player ever to appear in the Champions League at 15, as well as Arsenal's youngest-ever starter and the Premier League's youngest starter, goalscorer and title winner. Among his 13 appearances in all competitions last season was a memorable goal against Everton, where he carried the ball from inside his own half into an empty net after goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had advanced upfield. That strike was later voted Arsenal's goal of the season. Remarkably, he achieved all of this while still sitting his GCSEs at Brentwood School, before leaving education to pursue football full-time.
Despite his rapid rise, breaking into a red-hot Arsenal side has proven difficult. The Gunners have won all seven matches so far this season across four competitions, with Bukayo Saka, Christos Tzolis, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz forming their regular attacking unit in league fixtures. Dowman had been an unused substitute in four of those matches and not involved in two others before his midweek cup outing.
Teammate Mikel Merino was equally complimentary, telling BBC Radio 5 Live that Dowman