Mikel Arteta reveals secret behind Max Dowman's rise after historic Arsenal moment

Mikel Arteta hailed Max Dowman's "special" performance after the 15-year-old wonderkid made history by becoming Arsenal's youngest-ever starter in his side's Carabao Cup triumph over Brighton.

Second-half goals from Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka – who came on for Dowman with 20 minutes left – sealed a 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium, confirming Arsenal's progression to the fifth round and a home fixture against Crystal Palace.

However, it was Dowman, still two months and two days away from turning 16, who captured the headlines and received a standing ovation as he left the field.

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"A tiny smile, that's what you get with him," said Arteta when asked how Dowman reacted when he told him he was starting. "For him everything is natural, for him everything is OK. It's the way he plays and that's the secret, that he doesn't make a big fuss of it.

"He just does what he does best, which is to play football. To play football with a lot of courage and determination and today again, he has shown some incredible skill, some capacity to run past players at that level in the Premier League at 15. It's definitely something special."

When questioned whether the highly-rated youngster – who had previously appeared as a substitute in league matches against Leeds and Liverpool, as well as the previous round of this competition at Port Vale – would now be eager for more starts, Arteta responded: "For sure, if you ask him.

"That's what we have to manage and not only that, there's a lot of things that are new in his life. We have to make sure that he takes the right steps and he needs be able to cope with it, too, because it's happening very, very fast and we all need to be aware of that.

"Let's encourage him to keep going that way, but let's protect him as well." Dowman was amongst 10 changes made by Arteta, with only Eberechi Eze retaining his place from the side that defeated Crystal Palace to move four points clear at the top of the Premier League on Sunday.

Brighton created opportunities to find the net, but Arsenal held firm as Arteta's side secured their eighth consecutive victory and sixth successive clean sheet. Their defence has conceded just three goals in 14 matches across all competitions this term.

Arteta added: "We were struggling in the first half. I expected that when you make 10 changes and you have players that have never played before and some of them haven't played much this season.

"You have to gamble. But I was ready to take that risk and in the second half, we needed to start in a different way and we certainly did that and the game shifted momentum."

Disappointed Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler lamented his team's inability to convert any of their six attempts on Arsenal's goal.

He said: "When we take all the chances, we are in the next round. It is about scoring and defending and we were not able to score or defend the most important actions.

"The goal from Arsenal changed the game and it is not easy to score goals here as we all know."