Two goals from a boy who had not played a league minute
Seven minutes in, Max Dowman picked the ball up, ran at Cédric Kipré, went past him and buried it. Portman Road barely had time to settle. Forty minutes later, just after the restart, he did it again with a low shot skidded across the face of goal. Arsenal beat Ipswich Town 4-2 and went through.
Dowman is 16.
He had been kicking his heels since August. Arsenal kept winning without needing him, and the right winger had not seen a single Premier League minute. Mikel Arteta gave him the League Cup, and Dowman started alongside Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres as if he belonged there.
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Arteta saw this coming, and said so twice
Back in his press conference the Spaniard had set out the terms. “Max will get his chance. He’ll get minutes, and he’ll have to earn them like everyone else,” he said. “We know the talent we’ve got. We have to help him and find a way to make sure he keeps developing and keeps helping the team.”
By Tuesday night the register had shifted. “You can’t really talk about Max when he scores and produces actions like that. He’s an incredible player who loves these big occasions.” Then came the caveat that managers of teenagers always reach for: “In this league, with the demands it places on players, we have to protect players like Max Dowman.”
Football London and the Evening Standard both gave him a 9 out of 10.
Three senior goals before most players leave the U18s
None of this arrived from nowhere. Dowman played 13 matches for the first team last season, scored once, set up another. Tuesday’s brace puts him on three senior goals.
The problem is arithmetic. Arsenal sit top of the Premier League with four wins from four, they were champions last season, they lost the Champions League final, and the attacking depth in front of Dowman is close to absurd. Cup ties will not be enough for much longer.
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