Brighton0 - 1Arsenal

After putting in a strong shift on his maiden Premier League start in Wednesday's 3-1 win over Brentford, Nwaneri held his place in the first XI for the trip to the Amex on Saturday evening.

The 17-year-old is filling in for fellow Hale End graduate Bukayo Saka, who will be absent for the next couple of months with a hamstring injury, and he did not take long to make his mark on the South Coast.

After being played through on the right-hand side by Mikel Merino, getting in behind Pervis Estupinan, Nwaneri surged forward into acres of open space and eventually found himself about 10 yards from goal.

Jan Paul van Hecke came across to close down the teenager, who nevertheless managed to open up his body and curl a low effort into the bottom corner off the underside of Bart Verbruggen's leg.

In doing so, the 2007-born attacker became the first-ever Arsenal player to score more than one Premier League goal before turning 18, having opened his account in the competition against Nottingham Forest in late November.

Nwaneri achieves unprecedented Arsenal feat with Brighton goal

As well as being the first to achieve that feat for Arsenal, the Englishman is just the sixth to do so overall after Wayne Rooney (7), Michael Owen (5), Danny Cadamarteri (3), James Milner (3) and Federico Macheda (2).

Nwaneri was only a late substitute in that affair, having initially struggled to force his way into the first XI under Mikel Arteta, who was understandably being extremely cautious with his development.

In Arsenal's first game without Saka, their 1-0 win over Ipswich Town, Arteta gave Gabriel Martinelli the nod on the right wing, as was the case in the 5-1 thrashing of Crystal Palace where Saka picked up his injury.

However, the Spaniard finally gave into pleas from fans to start Nwaneri at the Gtech Community Stadium against Brentford, the same ground where he became the Premier League's youngest-ever player in September 2022.

Nwaneri caught the eye in that London derby success before his historic goal at the Amex Stadium, and the 17-year-old will no doubt continue to play a key role in the Arsenal XI for as long as Saka is unavailable.

Arsenal follow Saturday's match with the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final at home to Newcastle United on Tuesday, where Nwaneri will be in contention to start for a third game in a row.

However, Kai Havertz's availability for the clash with the Magpies is in doubt, as the German was again absent from the matchday squad to face Brighton due to illness.

Written by

Ben Knapton