Max Dowman produced an impressive cameo display for Arsenal against Port Vale on Wednesday night.
Mikel Arteta’s team cruised past Vale in the Carabao Cup third round, thanks to goals from Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard.
The former neatly tucked home after just eight minutes, before the latter added a powerful second four minutes from time.
Dowman was introduced just after the hour mark for Bukayo Saka, and caught the eye with some neat touches.
What Arsenal fans were chanting to Max Dowman during Port Vale clash
Dowman has impressed in his cameos so far this season and was granted another in Staffordshire on Wednesday night.
As Arteta looked to rest key players ahead of Sunday’s clash with Newcastle, the Spaniard withdrew Saka in the 63rd minute.
The 15-year-old came on for the Gunners’ talisman and showed glimpses of his talent with a few nice touches, body feints and dribbles.
Port Vale manager Darren Moore praised Dowman, who was the subject of an amusing chant from the Arsenal fans shortly after he came on.
The travelling Gunners supporters sang ‘you’ve got school in the morning’ to the starlet.
Of course, the teenager will indeed have attended school on Thursday morning, and this serves as a reminder of how remarkable it is that he’s already able to compete against full-grown men and not look out of place.
Max Dowman will be Bukayo Saka’s understudy for next two months
Noni Madueke is out for two months with a knee injury sustained against Manchester City on Sunday.
Saka won’t be able to play every minute of every game for the next eight weeks, and as shown by the Port Vale encounter, Dowman is viewed as the next man up on the right wing.
The youngster should be given some real minutes in the coming weeks, even if mostly off the bench when the Gunners have a commanding lead.
While the likes of Ethan Nwaneri and Gabriel Martinelli may be favoured over Dowman in high-pressure moments in the league, when games are tight, the prodigy will no doubt play the less meaningful substitute minutes.
The Hale End graduate’s rapid trajectory continues.
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