Ethan Nwaneri’s brother, Emerson, was the star of the show as the Arsenal U18s beat Birmingham.
The young Gunners have had a very strange campaign in the U18 Premier League. They started the season tremendously, winning four and drawing one of their first five games. The fifth fixture was a 4-2 win against Ipswich in September.
After that, the Arsenal U18s went on a shocking run during which they went winless in their next seven league games. They also crashed out of the FA Youth Cup.
On Saturday, that streak came to an end as Arsenal won their first U18 Premier League game since September, beating Birmingham 3-1.
The younger Nwaneri impressed everyone in that game.
Who do you think will be the bigger Arsenal star in 10 years – Ethan or Emerson Nwaneri?
Emerson Nwaneri shines in Arsenal U18s win vs Birmingham
Ethan Nwaneri has been the talk of the town at Arsenal for some time now, but Emerson could soon be the one everyone is raving about.
On Saturday, as the older Nwaneri was dropped at Marseille, his younger brother was the best player on the pitch for the U18s against Birmingham.
The 15-year-old started in the middle of the park, and he was involved in all three goals that the young Gunners scored to win the game.
For the equaliser after the Arsenal academy side went a goal down, Nwaneri received the ball in a tight space in midfield and fed Kyran Thompson out wide. The latter’s deflected strike hit the woodwork, and Ceadach O’Neill then converted the rebound.
Then, Nwaneri got on the ball and made a driving run on the right side of the pitch. He fizzed a powerful cross into the corridor of uncertainty, which forced goalkeeper Shea Birmingham to get in the way.
He spilled the ball into the path of Maalik Hashi, who tapped it into the back of the net.
For the third goal, Nwaneri dragged the Birmingham midfield out of position, allowing Alex Marciniak to take advantage of the space and get on the score sheet.
It was a fantastic performance from young Nwaneri, and if he keeps producing in the same way, Mikel Arteta will take note of him.
Who is the one Arsenal academy player you thought would become a superstar but never did?
Emerson Nwaneri is following in Ethan Nwaneri’s footsteps
Ethan Nwaneri was absolutely incredible for Arsenal’s youth sides as well, and that is where he caught the attention of Arteta and his coaching staff.
Emerson’s roles – defensive midfield and right-back – are a lot harder than those of his older brother, which means his pathway into the senior setup will be slightly tougher.
However, at just 15 years of age, he was the star of the show in an U18s game, which is exactly what the older Nwaneri used to do.
Emerson is clearly following in his brother’s footsteps, and we are convinced that he will be much more than Ethan’s little brother in the very near future.
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