London, September 16
Arsenal youngster Max Dowman etched his name alongside Wayne Rooney in Premier League history, becoming only the second 16-year-old to score twice in a match for an English top-flight club with his brace in the Carabao Cup win over Ipswich Town on Tuesday.
Dowman first made headlines last season when he scored and provided an assist in a crucial 2-0 home win over Everton during Arsenal's Premier League title-winning campaign. After making four appearances as an unused substitute this season, the youngster featured for the Under-21s on Saturday.
Three days later, Dowman marked his first appearance of the season with a superb individual goal seven minutes after coming on, before doubling his tally shortly after half-time to help Arsenal secure a 4-2 victory. Rooney's own brace as a 16-year-old also came in the League Cup, when he scored twice for Everton against Wrexham in October 2002.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta acknowledged that Dowman's latest eye-catching display would make it difficult to contain the growing hype around the teenager.
"A joy to have him. It's inevitable to talk about him when he scores, and he creates the moments that he has created tonight. It's normal," Arteta said in his news conference, as per ESPN.
"He can deliver those actions effortlessly, I would say. That's his biggest quality, and defensively, his application, his capacity as well to sustain the actions, which is not easy, he's 16 years old, and he can create moments but consistently go through the game. With the demands that we put on them, to be able to do that is extremely difficult, and he's coping better and better and better," Arteta added.
— ANI
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