Max Dowman doubles up for Arsenal’s back-ups to beat Ipswich in Carabao Cup
The bad news for everyone else is that Arsenal’s next generation is already here. Two mesmerising goals and an assist in a man-of-the-match display from Max Dowman underlined why the 16-year-old has been compared to a certain Lionel Messi by his manager, Mikel Arteta, as Ipswich were swatted aside with ease. Almost as impressive was the performance of the 17-year-old Marli Salmon, who oozed class in central defence on only the second senior start of his career.
Ipswich won here the last time these two sides met in this competition, in 2011, but were beaten 3-0 in the second leg of the semi-final at the Emirates before Arsenal infamously lost to Birmingham in the final. Fifteen years on, Gary O’Neil’s heavily rotated side stood no chance against last year’s runners up after Dowman’s brilliant opening goal. Noni Madueke and the stand-in skipper Mikel Merino were also on target as Arsenal made it seven wins out of seven to start the new campaign. Having finally ended their long wait for silverware in style, this team are hungry for more and know they can now rely on one of the most exciting talents ever to have emerged from their Hale End academy.
“He can deliver those actions effortlessly. That’s his biggest quality,” said Arteta of the delightful shimmy that preceded Dowman’s first goal. “It’s a joy to have him. But what we have to do is look after him. He’s 16 years old, you don’t see that in this league. In other leagues in Europe, that’s a totally different context. We really need to make sure every time we throw him in, he’s in the right context with the right preparation. That’s what we are trying to do.”
Both managers made their priorities clear as there were a combined 19 changes from their sides’ wins in the Premier League at the weekend. After a summer of heavy spending, many of those who helped Ipswich bounce straight back from the Championship last season were given an opportunity to stake a claim but largely failed to do so. “It’s the most extreme test that you can face,” admitted O’Neil. “Every time we made a mistake we were punished.”
Dowman’s most recent first-team appearance was in the final game of last season when Arsenal were crowned champions, and he has since completed his GCSEs before spending a week in New York during the World Cup where he rubbed shoulders with Paul Pogba.
Arteta said beforehand he would have “earn his minutes” like anyone else and it only took seven of them for Dowman to seize his opportunity. Ipswich’s fans were taunting their Arsenal counterparts about never being crowned European champions when he muscled Santiago Núñez off the ball on the halfway line and set off towards the penalty area. The imposing figure of Cédric Kipré – all 6ft 3in of him – was all that stood in Dowman’s way but he went past the Ivory Coast defender in a flurry of feet before cooly dispatching a shot into the corner and performing a Thierry Henry knee slide for good measure.
Ipswich’s mission got even harder when Madueke hammered in after Bruno Guimarães and Merino had combined to set him up after Dowman had started the press. Barely a quarter of an hour had been played. To their credit, the hosts rallied and it needed a clearance off the line from Salmon to deny Zian Flemming. Not to be outdone by Dowman, Salmon – who signed his professional contact when he turned 17 last month having also played in the Champions League and FA Cup last season – set out on a slaloming run just before half-time after calmly turning his way out of trouble under pressure from Flemming, drawing a round of applause from the Arsenal bench.
Ipswich’s hopes of mounting a comeback were extinguished within two minutes of the restart when Dowman struck again. Martín Zubimendi’s pass found him on the edge of the six-yard box and the finish was caressed into the far corner. Merino then curled home off the post from Dowman’s touch to put the result beyond any doubt, although the biggest roar of the evening came when Ipswich hit back through Anis Mehmeti after he was set up by the substitute Jack Clarke.
Including Myles Lewis-Skelly – a relative veteran these days at 19 and surely in line for an England recall this week after an excellent start to the season – Arsenal had four teenagers on the pitch at the end after the 18-year-old Theo Julienne came on at right-back. Even Ipswich had a Hale End graduate in their ranks by then as Chuba Akpom grabbed another consolation in injury time via a deflection. But, not for the last time one suspects, it was Dowman’s name that was on everyone’s lips at the end.