Against a tough opponent Brentford, Mikel Arteta surprised many when he sent young striker Ethan Nwaneri on the field from the start to replace Bukayo Saka. Responding to the 42-year-old coach's trust, the 17-year-old player had an excellent performance.
In the first half, Ethan Nwaneri was the only player on the Gunners side to complete 100% of his passes (17/17) and create 2 scoring opportunities for his teammates. It was this young player's difficult cross that created the opportunity for Martinelli to score the winning goal for Arsenal 3-1.
At 17 years and 286 days, Nwaneri is the third youngest player to start for Arsenal in the Premier League, behind only Cesc Fabregas (17 years and 103 days against Everton in August 2004) and Theo Walcott (17 years and 212 days against Watford in October 2006).
Striker Ethan Nwaneri also set a milestone as the youngest player (15 years and 181 days) to ever play in the Premier League, when he came on as a substitute for Arsenal in a match against Brentford in September 2022.
After the match, Mikel Arteta praised his student: "In training, his performance convinced me. This is a player who grew up in the academy and deserves a place in the first team of Arsenal."
With Ethan Nwaneri's impressive performance against Brentford, The Gunners are certainly extremely confident in the context of Bukayo Saka's long-term absence. At this time, Arsenal has risen to second place with 39 points, 6 points behind the leader Liverpool but having played one more game.
Mikel Arteta's side are on an 11-match unbeaten run in all competitions, including three consecutive wins in the Premier League. They are also the team that has scored the most goals from corners in the top flight with nine.
