Nigeria-eligible midfielder becomes youngest player in top flight, EPL and Arsenal history

Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri made history on Sunday afternoon at the Gtech Community Stadium as he became the youngest Arsenal player to make a first team appearance at the age of 15 years, 181 days old to beat the record previously held by Cesc Fabregas when he made his debut at 16 years, 177 days old against Rotherham in a 2003 League Cup tie.

When he came on in the 90th minute to replace Fábio Vieira, he also became the youngest player in history to feature in the top flight of English football and the Premier League, breaking the record previously held by ex-Sunderland goalkeeper Derek Forster (15 years and 185 days) and former Fulham starlet Harvey Elliot (16 years and 30 days) respectively.

The Gunners defeated hosts Brentford 3-0 to go back to the top of the table going into the international break on 18 points.

The Hale End Academy product was named on the substitutes bench by manager Mikel Arteta with injuries ruling out Oleksandr Zinchenko, Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith Rowe and Cedric Soares out of the game.

Nwaneri was aged 14 years and 44 days when he made his U18 Premier League debut against Reading on May 4, 2021 and played his first game in the Premier League 2 against Blackburn Rovers aged 15 years and 166 days.

William Saliba's 17th minute header from a corner kick put the Gunners ahead in the game.

Gabriel Jesus doubled the lead in the 28th minute for his fourth goal of the season as he headed the ball beyond the reach of Brentford goalkeeper David Raya from a Granit Xhaka lofted pass from the edge of the box.

Brentford keen to get a goal before the break had a decent chance through Mbeumo but his glancing header in the 44th minute went wide and it ended 2-0 at half time.

Fabio Vieira making his first Premier League start for the club steered the ball to the bottom right corner with a great strike from long range three minutes into the second half. Bukayo Saka assisted the goal.

Super Eagles midfielder Frank Onyeka came off the Brentford in a double substitution in place of Vitaly Janelt in the 63rd minute for his fourth league appearance this season.

Gabriel went close to scoring the Arsenal fourth goal with a long range strike in the 70th minute.

Izuchukwu Michael

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