Arsenal eased into the Carabao Cup fourth round with a 4-2 victory over Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Tuesday night, propelled by a two-goal display from 16-year-old Max Dowman. Mikel Arteta rotated heavily for the fixture, extending the Gunners’ winning run across all competitions to seven games.
Max Dowman Makes History with a Two-Goal Display at Portman Road
Max Dowman seized his first appearance of the season by delivering a mesmerising performance that netted two goals and an assist in a man-of-the-match display. Operating in a heavily rotated starting line-up under manager Mikel Arteta, the 16-year-old needed only seven minutes to open the scoring at Portman Road. After muscling Santiago Núñez off the ball on the halfway line, Dowman drove at the Ipswich defence, skipped past the 6ft 3in frame of Ivory Coast defender Cédric Kipré with a sharp shimmy, and coolly dispatched a shot past goalkeeper Christian Walton into the bottom corner.
The achievement entered the record books as Dowman became only the second 16-year-old to score twice in a match for a Premier League side across all competitions. Just 90 seconds after the second-half restart, Dowman struck again, controlling Martin Zubimendi’s deflected pass inside the area before opening up his body to slot home his second.
“He can deliver those actions effortlessly. That’s his biggest quality. 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.”
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager
How Arsenal’s Rotated Side Built a Four-Goal Advantage
Despite making changes from the weekend Premier League win, Arsenal’s pressing game overwhelmed Gary O’Neil’s side early on. Noni Madueke doubled the visitors’ lead in the 16th minute, clinically volleying into the net after Bruno Guimaraes won possession back and Mikel Merino played the decisive pass. The commanding performance also featured a strong outing from 17-year-old central defender Marli Salmon on only the second senior start of his career.
Arsenal extended their lead further before the hour mark. Following a pass from Guimaraes, stand-in captain Mikel Merino curled a placed shot in off the left post from just inside the penalty area to make it 4-0. The match also saw the hosts fail to register a single shot on target in the first half.
Late Ipswich Replies Limit the Damage at Portman Road
Ipswich Town fought back as the game wore on, capitalising on late defensive lapses. Following substitutions by O’Neil, substitute Jack Clarke drove down the left flank and set up Anis Mehmeti, whose first-time shot beat goalkeeper Kepa low to his left in the 62nd minute. Former Arsenal forward Chuba Akpom added a second consolation for the hosts in stoppage time, turning in the area to send a deflected shot past Kepa.
Ipswich head coach Gary O’Neil acknowledged the clinical nature of the opposition after the full-time whistle.
“We got punished badly. They didn’t have many shots. When they did, they all went in. We got punished for a couple of mistakes. They showed a couple of moments of quality and without there being too much in the game, we were four behind.”
Gary O’Neil, Ipswich head coach
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