Gabriel Jesus, Ethan Nwaneri and substitute Kai Havertz were all on the scoresheet as Arsenal secured a comprehensive 3-0 win against Preston to secure a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
A strong Gunners starting lineup made light work of a potential banana skin allowing Mikel Arteta to make a host of second-half changes to save tired legs.
Here’s what the managers, players and stattos made of the action…
Arteta on the performance and result…
It’s very positive. Winning, into the quarter-finals, we had some really good moments, some fantastic goals, a really good mixture between senior players and very young players, some of them having their professional debut with us so overall, a really good night.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom on a tough encounter for his players…
I knew exactly what to expect from Mikel and his team. Having seen the team sheet, it reinforced that, so I knew what was coming. With that comes that challenge and second half, I was really pleased we kept the same energy and work rate. But, we were braver, passed the ball and one or two players showed their quality – which we didn’t do in the first half.
Source: Lancashire Post
Mikel Merino completed all of his passes in the first half (22/22) then Kai Havertz replaced him at half time and completed 100% of his passes (32/32). Meanwhile, Nwaneri misplaced just one of his 56 passes all evening. pic.twitter.com/JOs5tXYnkv
— Harvey Downes (@HarveyDownes92) October 30, 2024
Arteta on Nwaneri’s goal and performance…
The goal that Ethan scored obviously was phenomenal. He keeps doing it in training, he’s got the ability, his personality, to make decisions in the final third so I’m really happy.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Heckingbottom on Nwaneri’s strike…
The second goal is fantastic. Watching it back, I don’t think you will find a way to stop that.
Source: Lancashire Post
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Ayden Heaven on Nwaneri’s goal…
Yeah, I’m used to it now, I’ve seen him do it all of last year. I’ve grown up with him as well. I joined when I was 13 and he was here as well, so yeah, it’s been a long time.
Source: Arsenal.com
Ethan Nwaneri has now scored more League Cup goals than Thierry Henry
— Tom Ede (@TomEde1) October 30, 2024
Arteta on subbing Timber off at half-time…
It was planned. Obviously, we have a lot of issues in the backline, we wanted to share the minutes because we lost Gabi [Magalhaes] and Ben [White] on top of the other players, so we had to make sure that we were competitive but as well protect players because we have a lot of games coming up again.
Source: Post-game press conference
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Arteta on the decision to play Saka in the second half…
Once he’s in the rhythm he prefers to have that exposure, he travelled with us, he always says ‘once I’m here, I prefer to play a few minutes’, as well to protect Gabi [Martinelli] because he had a big impact in the first half. It worked out well.
Source: Post-game press conference
Ethan Nwaneri (17y & 223d) is the youngest player to score in each of his first two starts for #Arsenal.
— Harvey Downes (@HarveyDownes92) October 30, 2024
Arteta on handing debuts to Tommy Setford and Ayden Heaven…
He [Setford] was really happy on the pitch and in the dressing room, a very emotional day for him. He’s been with us only for three month, he’s 18 years old, he just played his first professional game for the club and in his career and the same with Ayden [Heaven], two big smiles.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Setford on his debut…
Obviously I couldn’t sleep last night, I slept at like 2 o’clock. Obviously I was gassed and I was looking forward to it as well. I was excited, so it was good. I came here three months ago and today I made my professional debut and my debut for The Arsenal, so it’s a special moment and I’m happy with the clean sheet.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Heaven on what the coaches said before he came on…
They said do your thing basically. They showed me what I had to do on set pieces and I’m confident in my ability anyway, so I knew I was going to have a good game when I came on.
Source: Arsenal.com
Our debutants ❤️ pic.twitter.com/frUe2pgknU
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 30, 2024
