A brace from man-of-the-match Ethan Nwaneri and goals from senior stars Declan Rice, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz saw Arsenal beat Bolton 5-1 to secure safe passage to the Carabao Cup fourth round.
Here’s what the managers, players and stattos had to say about an enjoyable night in the north London rain…
Mikel Arteta on his side’s win…
“A lot of positives to take from it, first of all the performance and then the way we scored the goals. We gave minutes, deserved minutes to a lot of first team players that needed them. As well we had obviously very important debuts as well that make us really proud.
Source: Arsenal.com
__
Ian Evatt on Bolton’s performance…
It’s probably as tough as it gets. Certainly in this country, it’s as tough a game as you can have. They’re excellent obviously and they gave us respect by playing most of their best players. It’s hard to criticise the players because they’ve absolutely run the socks off when you need to against that team. We spoke this morning and yesterday just about making them earn it, really. Making them work hard for their goals. They are more than capable of it because, as I said, they’ve got some some fantastic players but a couple of the goals were self-inflicted which is disappointing and the first half I thought we should have had a penalty for sure. Whether we would have made them angry or not I don’t know but I thought we should have a penalty but also they didn’t create a great deal and the two real chances they had they scored both.
Source: @OfficialBWFC
The #Arsenal are now unbeaten in 13 matches in all competitions, which is (perhaps surprisingly) our longest unbeaten run under Mikel Arteta
— Tom Ede (@TomEde1) September 25, 2024
Ethan Nwaneri on fans chanting his name…
It’s a great feeling when the club you love, the club you’ve grown up with the fans are chanting that. So yeah, it’s a good feeling. It’s a surreal feeling. It’s a feeling I’ve wanted to feel for almost 16 years of my life so to actually feel it, it’s crazy…just want more of it. All them players that I’ve played with since I’ve been like 9 and now we’re on the big pitch together, it’s a crazy feeling. You know, it’s good.
Source: Arsenal.com
__
Arteta on Nwaneri’s performance…
He’s improving daily. They really respect him. You can tell he’s playing without pressure, with confidence, with a way of making decisions that tells you that the boy is ready at this level. Today he had a really strong performance and I’m happy to see that.
Source: Arsenal.com
Jack Porter
Josh Nichols
Ismeal Kabia
Maldini KacurriTonight was the first time #Arsenal have handed as many as four teenagers their first teams debuts in the same game since October 2015 vs Sheffield Wednesday
Krystian Bielik
Ismael Bennacer
Alex Iwobi
Glen Kamara— Harvey Downes (@HarveyDownes92) September 25, 2024
Arteta on fielding 16-year-old Jack Porter in goal…
We told him yesterday and he was over the moon straight away. I think he spoke to his family. And yeah, they weren’t prepared for that. It’s a big step. It’s a big occasion for them. And I think they were nervous about it. But I think he reacted really well. He was really composed yesterday in training today as well. His teammates really helped him as well on that. And what an experience and what a way to break a record.
Source: Post-game press conference
__
Arteta on David Raya’s injury and whether he’ll be fit for Saturday…
We don’t know yet, he’s got a muscular injury.
Source: Post-game press conference
Ethan Nwaneri (17y 188d) is the youngest player to score 2+ goals in a game for #Arsenal since Arturo Lupoli vs Everton in November 2004 (17y 138d). https://t.co/EPuNMzYS7t
— Harvey Downes (@HarveyDownes92) September 25, 2024
Arteta on Raheem Sterling getting up to speed…
Yeah, it’s very good. I think he’s getting better and better. I think physically you can tell that he’s making steps. The moment the game opened up a little bit, you know, what he can do, how he can deliver. He was involved in a few goals, so, very positive night for him.
Source: Post-game press conference
__
Nwaneri on his involvement in a hectic week for the club…
It’s been tough. It’s been intense, but I think it’s definitely helped me as a player, helped me to see what it’s like, how they prepare. I think I’ve added that to my game, so definitely it’s been good to be around them players.
Source: Arsenal.com
70% – Arsenal have won 21 of their 30 games in all competitions in 2024, a win percentage of 70%. That is their joint best in any calendar year, along with 1932 (won 35/50, 70%). Artistic. pic.twitter.com/8ljiMwuPNE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 25, 2024
Arteta is a phenomenal manager. So lucky Arsene brought him in and made him ours. So glad we’re his club. There is no manager in the world I’d rather have. Class. Legend.
I think it is amazing what Arteta and Edu have done to turn this club around since the days of Emery and Raúl Sanllehi. The team, results, fans and whole culture has changed for the better and I am proud to be an Arsenal fan again. Begrudging positive acknowledgment to Josh Kroenke too I suppose.
When did Saliba sign? Was it under the last regime??
Saliba WAS signed by Emery. This is a fact, whether convenient or not.
Harsh on Emery. He wasn’t given the right tools to succeed.
Wanted Zaha, was given Pepe.
Than god then otherwise we would still have him and zaha by your reckoning
Emery is a good manager. Arteta is an exceptional one.
Emery has been around a lot longer. Apart from PSG, where anyone could win a title, what title races has he been involved in?
Excellent tactician but there’s a lot more to being a great coach/manager than that. Would you seriously swap him back in for MA?
Wilf Zaha wasn’t gonna make the difference in post-Wenger Arsenal. I agree with the general sentiment that he was set up to fail. (Almost) anyone would have. It was a general lack of direction, lack of leadership, lack of squad balance, too many older players on big salaries, general fan angst/malaise. Too much to swim against.
I still think Emery is tactically better than Arteta. The good Ebening good Apternoon was his biggest downfall.
If memory serves Mikel joined the day / week after the infamous visit to Old Trafford. What a response by Arsene Sama playing the long game.
Arteta was lucky to work under 2 exceptional managers. Wenger’s introducing Arsenal style of play and how he protected the players. He also learn Wenger’s mistakes in buying the wrong type of players and how he sometimes over protect the non performers. Under Pep obviously he learn tactics and the champion’s mindset.
People who have talent and a strong mindset end up in “lucky” places.
Think about that.
The -1 there is hilarious.
U cant please everyone 😂😂😂
Covert spuds fan
Pretty much a perfect evening for Arsenal. Lots of debuts, goals and smiles. This will help the team feel less jaded after an exhausting week. On a personal note, I’m happy that it was Bolton. I haven’t quite forgiven them.
Agreed. Remind me why we hate Bolton? big Sam days?
In the late 2000’s they flew the flag for the proper football man, Arsenal don’t like it up em, rainy away day in the northwest set piece and sneaky elbows in your face kind of football. The anti-Arsenal if you will.
Can I just make a point here about the reffing of this game. I noticed no VAR delays, the ref couldn’t care less about the odd delaying the game (I saw a few times where a Bolton player grabbed the ball on our throw-in and held it for a while), and the game actually flowed.
Nice change.
VAR isn’t in use for Carabao Cup games
Right. And no one missed it.
I can’t help thinking that, if Bolton had won 1-2 and subsequent replays had shown the first goal to be blatantly offside and the penalty to be a dive, it would be a different story.
With VAR you get the same situation, just with “why didn’t they look at that and overturn it” rather than “why didn’t they call that”. Wrong decisions either way, but one wastes less time and it’s easier to move on from.
I’m surprised that Myles Lewis-Skelly doesn’t get a mention. His ball for Sterling in the build-up to Ethan Nwaneri’s goal, came with instructions telling Sterling exactly what to do. It was that good.
Yes, MLS was the big takeaway for me from this game. He’s a player!
Interestingly coming into this year two things were true. First, our squad has been called thin. Second, Arteta was accused of not giving youngsters a chance. Games like this will go a long way toward breaking both of those notions down.
Hope Timber is ok. Could be the serious injury Mikel mentioned in on of his pressers this week.
Raya is injured
Well done to all the young gunners!
Did us proud!
In the blog today, there was a picture of the teenagers, tweeted from I think the official Arsenal account. It’s Nwaneri taking the picture, Heaven, Kabia and Nichols behind him, and then behind those I can see Lewis-Skelly, Kacurri, Rojas, Porter and someone I don’t recognize in what looks like a spiderman costume, our training kit, right? I can’t figure out who that kid is and as far as I know only 8 teenagers were in the squad. Does anyone know that is?
Khari Ranson (3rd choice keeper)
Thanks a lot, it was doing my head in not being able to figure it out