Report: Arsenal 5-1 Bolton (inc. goals)

Arsenal: Porter, Nichols, Kiwior, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri, Jorginho, Rice, Saka, Jesus, Sterling

Subs: Rojas, Saliba, Gabriel, Kacurri, Heaven, Partey, Havertz, Martinelli, Kabia

Arsenal eased into the Carabao Cup fourth round after beating Bolton Wanderers 5-1 at Emirates Stadium, thanks to goals from Declan Rice, Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri (2).

As expected, Mikel Arteta made eight changes to the side that drew against Manchester City on Sunday with Riccardo Calafiori, Rice and Bukayo Saka the only names to survive.

With Neto cup-tied, goalkeeper Jack Porter (16y 72d) was handed a start to become the second-youngest player to ever feature for Arsenal, while Sterling also made his first start for the club after joining from Chelsea on deadline day.

It was Bolton who had the first sight of goal after Calafiori was guilty of giving the ball away in a dangerous area, before John McAtee cut back for Scott Arfield who fired over from close range.

But after 15 minutes of sterile possession, the Gunners were ahead through Declan Rice who curled in brilliantly from the edge of the box after Arfield miskicked his clearance. 1-0.

Their performance had understandably lacked fluency until that point but one moment of quality from the England midfielder was enough to hand them a welcome lead.

Arsenal were close to adding a second shortly after when Sterling did well to beat his man out wide and float a cross to the back post – with Jesus attempting a spectacular effort from Saka’s header across goal – although his effort was intercepted.

Bolton did have the ball in the net when McAtee ran beyond the last line before finishing, although he was correctly ruled offside before Arteta’s men broke up the other end and doubled their lead.

Lewis-Skelly was given too much time in midfield and did brilliantly to split the visitors’ backline after sharp movement in behind from Sterling, who got his head up and found Nwaneri in the middle to slot home from six yards. 2-0.

It was a clinical move and another lovely moment for Nwaneri (17y 188d) who netted his first Arsenal goal – and in doing so became the club’s youngest goal scorer since Jack Wilshere vs Sheffield United in September 2008 (16y 288d).

There were further chances for the Gunners heading into half time with Sterling drawing a good save from goalkeeper Southwood, before Jesus did well to bump defender Ricardo Santos aside but struck his half-volley wide from 18 yards.

Just four minutes into the second half, Nwaneri found himself on the scoresheet again after Rice did well to intercept some loose Bolton passing into midfield, before freeing the teenager who slotted confidently beyond Southwood. 3-0.

Bolton did get one back through Aaron Collins who suddenly found himself through on goal after Arsenal were caught upfield from a corner. Jorginho couldn’t make up ground on the forward who rounded Porter before finishing into an empty net. 3-1.

Despite their goal, the Gunners never looked in real danger of conceding another and ended up finding another goal of their own when Sterling reacted quickest to tap home after good work from Saka. 4-1.

There were changes aplenty for both sides after that, with Gabriel, Kai Havertz, Maldini Kacurri and Gabriel Martinelli all coming on to stretch their legs on a rainy night in North London.

With ten minutes remaining, Havertz also reminded everybody that 65 million has indeed gone down the drain by scoring again – adding a fifth from close range after some penalty box pinball. 5-1.

After three difficult, emotionally and physically taxing away games in a week, this clash was a welcome change for Arsenal who were able to rotate their side and breeze through the cup against weaker opposition.

Key players were rested, others got valuable minutes and Hale End has proven itself again with a host of senior debuts – with Nwaneri proving himself to be the most promising of all.