Max Dowman, a 16-year-old Arsenal winger, became the Premier League’s youngest-ever scorer with a remarkable stoppage-time goal in his team’s 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday.
Dowman collected the ball midway in his own half, dribbled around two Everton players, and raced clear unchallenged from the halfway line to tap into an empty net, with Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford stranded upfield having gone forward for a corner.
Dowman — at 16 years, 73 days — was playing just his third Premier League match after two previous substitute appearances at the start of the season.
He broke the record of former Everton player James Vaughan, who was 16 years and 270 days old when he scored against Crystal Palace in 2005.
“It was a phenomenal moment,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said in his news conference.
“We talked before the game to play with that relentless desire to win every action and to have the conviction that we are going to find a way to do it. And the effort, the quality, the commitment of the players was sensational. And then it ended up in a way that none of us probably expected.
“And it was one of the best moments that we lived together at the Emirates.”
In November, Dowman became the youngest player in Champions League history at 15 years, 308 days when he entered as a second-half substitute against Slavia Prague.
But he hadn’t made a Premier League appearance since September before Arteta turned to the teenager in the 74th minute on Saturday with the game still goalless.
“Probably in my head I had a gut feeling,” Arteta said of the decision to bring in Dowman. “Yesterday he was training in the last few days, and I had a gut feeling that it was a moment for him.
“Probably because he doesn’t seem to be faced by the occasion or the moment or the context or the opponent. He just plays so naturally. He makes decisions to make things happen, and what he delivered was incredible.”
Arteta said his message to Dowman was simple.
“Go and do your thing and win us the game,” he said. “I said these are the moments in the season when something special has to happen, and he knows he has the ability, which I have to give him the opportunity, and he will deliver.”
Dowman played a key role in Arsenal’s win on Saturday, also providing the cross that proved critical in Viktor Gyökeres finally breaking the deadlock with a minute remaining.
“I think he created a different energy in the stadium,” Arteta added. “It’s not only the goal that he scored. I think he changed the game. Every time he got the ball, he made things happen. It looked like we were the bigger threat. To do that at that age, in this context, with this pressure, it is just not normal.”
The victory put Arsenal 10 points clear of second-place Manchester City, though having played two games more, as they took another step closer to a first Premier League title in 22 years.
Dowman is still in school. He was 14 when he was asked by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to train with the senior team in December last year, and he starred on the club’s preseason tour of Asia in matches against AC Milan and Newcastle.
To abide by Premier League regulations for players under 18, Dowman has to change into his Arsenal kit for training sessions and matches in a separate locker room from his senior teammates.
