Arteta rotated heavily, as everyone does in the third round, and the story picked itself anyway.
Dowman, Twice
Max Dowman scored inside seven minutes, intercepting, exchanging passes with Eberechi Eze and finishing the move himself. Noni Madueke made it two on 16 after a Mikel Merino chip. Two minutes into the second half Dowman had his second, and with it a piece of history: only Wayne Rooney, against Wrexham in 2002, has scored twice in a League Cup tie for a Premier League club as a 16-year-old.
He turns 17 in three months. He is already the youngest scorer in Premier League history from last March.
Merino made it four on 58, rifling one in off the post.
The Ipswich Response
Anis Mehmeti side-footed one back on 62 from Jack Clarke's pass, and Chuba Akpom added a second in stoppage time from a Leif Davis cutback. Two goals conceded by a much-changed side, and a fourth round place regardless. Viktor Gyökeres had a quiet night.
The Arteta Insight
The boss was careful, which is the right way to be about a boy this good this early:
"He was brilliant. Some of the individual actions he made to make the difference and to impact the game were outstanding. We know the talent, we need to look after him."
"He's 16 years old, and we need to be really cautious with that. We don't want to stop him, we don't want to put any brakes on him, we need to develop him, and we are fully aware of what he needs."
Man of the Match: Max Dowman 🏴
Two goals, one of them the best individual moment of the night, in a competition that gave him his debut a year ago.
Image Credits: https://www.arsenal.com/