Arsenal 2, Brighton 0 — How impressive was Max Dowman? Who staked a claim? Did rotation work? – The Athletic

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Max Dowman impressed on his first senior start for Arsenal as Mikel Arteta’s side beat visitors Brighton 2-0 in the Carabao Cup to advance to next month’s quarter-finals.

Dowman became Arsenal’s youngest-ever starter aged 15 years and 302 days and performed fearlessly, taking on Brighton players and showing why there is so much faith placed in him at the north London club.

It was two other players developed at Arsenal’s Hale End academy, Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka, who got the goals, the first in particular coming after a lovely team move.

Brighton had chances, something Arsenal fans haven’t been used to seeing from opponents recently, but failed to take advantage, so miss out on a home tie against arch-rivals Crystal Palace in December’s quarter-finals.

So what did Arteta learn about his squad on Wednesday night? How good was Dowman? And did anyone stake a claim for a starting XI spot when Arsenal get back to Premier League business at the weekend?

Art de Roché breaks down the talking points from the Emirates Stadium.

How did Dowman perform?

Tonight was all about Dowman. Playing on the right wing, as he has done in his previous outings for the first team, he was Arsenal’s main spark in the first half.

His first action of the match, a jink away from a challenge before driving infield, got fans in the stadium on their feet — and that continued throughout the night. Soon after, a feather-like first touch from a Kepa Arrizabalaga long ball brought collective gasps from those in the West Stand before he drove towards the box to win a corner.

(Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

He wasn’t a constant menace, but kept offering Maxim De Cuyper reminders that he was buzzing around. At one point, he tried a dummy to get the better of the 24-year-old full Belgium international that didn’t come off, but certainly showed his confidence.

Later, a lovely drop of the shoulder saw Dowman slip away from a marker before making another burst for the box. As the half ended, he isolated De Cuyper expertly on the touchline before breezing away from him to receive even more applause.

Dowman started the second half in similar fashion, with a delicate first-time drag back to get away from his marker and draw even more gasps from the fans.

Andre Harriman-Annous was also making his first start for Arsenal up front. The 17-year-old pressed enthusiastically, ran the channels well and was unlucky to see his shot saved in the build-up to Arsenal’s second goal.

It seemed like only a matter of time before the teenagers would be replaced as the match went into its final quarter, and when they were, the whole crowd rose to show him their appreciation.

Who else impressed? Did rotation work?

Before we get to opening goalscorer Nwaneri, there need to be mentions for both Kepa and Cristhian Mosquera.

Kepa proved himself to be a reliable understudy to David Raya in a busy spell for him early in the game, but also remained concentrated in the second half. Thankfully for Arsenal, this season their backup goalkeeper hasn’t been cup-tied, as was the case with 2024-25 loanee Neto, who had played in this competition for Bournemouth before signing.

As for Mosquera, this was yet another display that will see the scouts who identified him as a transfer target in the summer come away with praise. Other than one moment when he was caught out in the second half, the 21-year-old was quick to react and put out fires when his team-mates lost either possession or track of their attackers.

He was just as important as his goalkeeper in keeping Arsenal level before they went ahead just before the hour.

(Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Nwaneri’s finish could be exactly what he needed going forward.

The 18-year-old had a slow start to proceedings but was much sharper in the second half. He was quicker to find passes out wide to Eberechi Eze, and also got a shot on target from a very similar position to his goal just minutes before.

With Martin Odegaard out injured, and Eze starting a lot of games at the moment, the England Under-21 international finding that rhythm again could be essential for keeping things fresh in midfield in the coming weeks.

What was it like facing shots on target again?

Arsenal could count themselves lucky not to be two goals down within the opening 10 minutes: Kepa did well early on to stop a shot from Georginio Rutter and then to close the angle on Stefanos Tzimas.

This much-changed Arsenal team were much more open than Arteta’s regular starters. His Premier League leaders had conceded just one shot on target in the past three top-flight games. By half-time here, Brighton had taken nine shots and put three of them on target.

(David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

A major factor in this was that Arteta made 10 changes to his starting line-up, which meant new combinations of players were put together.

For example, the midfield of Christian Norgaard, Mikel Merino and Nwaneri struggled to win second balls in the early stages of the game, which led to more transitional moments for Brighton to exploit.

They grew into the game, but Kepa staying alert kept Arsenal in it before they went ahead.

What did Arteta say?

Asked how Dowman reacted when told he would make his first start, Arteta said: “A tiny smile. That’s what you get with him. For him, everything is natural. For him, everything is OK, (and) it’s the way he plays. I think that’s the secret, that he doesn’t make a big fuss of it, he just does what he does best, which is to play football; to play football with a lot of courage and determination, and today again he’s shown some incredible skill, some capacity to run past players at that level in the Premier League at 15. It’s something definitely special.

When asked if the teenager wants to start every game, Arteta said: “For sure. If you ask him, for sure. That’s what we have to manage and not only that, there’s a lot of things that are new in his life. We discussed that, I think, a few days ago. Make sure that he does the right steps, that he behaves and accepts because this is going to go (from) this one, then he’s going to play in a different team, and he needs to cope with all that, because it’s happening very, very fast, and we all need to be aware of that. Let’s encourage him to keep going that way, but let’s protect him as well.”