Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has hailed his side after they knocked Ipswich Town out of the League Cup on Tuesday night. Teenage sensation Max Dowman scored a brace, while Noni Madueke and Merino also registered their names on the scoresheet in the 4-2 win.
Teenage sensation Max Dowman scored a brace, while Noni Madueke and Merino also registered their names on the score sheet in the 4-2 win.
Addressing journalists, Arteta expressed delight at his side's dominance, especially the performance of the debutants he featured.
"I'm really pleased with a lot of things that we've done tonight. The way we attacked the game, how dominant, fluent and aggressive we were right from the beginning to try to influence the result.
We scored two very early goals that gave us obviously a great platform for the game. And yeah, individually some big performances as well, some debuts tonight which is great to see as well. So we take a lot of positives from the night," he said.
Arteta then praised Max for his display on the night, saying, "A joy to have him, Marli as well, a 16-year-old, to play at the level with the physicality they have to be able to handle that level. It's remarkable. And Max, yeah, it's inevitable to talk about him when he scores, and he creates the moments that he has created tonight. It's normal."
Arteta also spoke about the teenager's second goal, where he pressures the goalkeeper before finishing.
"That's something very natural for him, and he can deliver those actions effortlessly, I would say. That's his biggest quality. And defensively, his application, his capacity as well to sustain the actions, which is not easy.
"He's 16 years old, and he can create moments, but consistently to go through the game, every phase, with the demands that we put on them, to be able to do that is extremely difficult. And he's coping better and better and better.
"He did the action where he regained the ball and won it. In the first goal, he loses his man. And that's the thing that we need to continue to reiterate with him because he's an unbelievable player because of the character that he has and how much he loves to play at the biggest stage and still handle the situation with such naturalness," he said.
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