WANDERERS were dealt a harsh lesson by Arsenal’s superstars, young and old, as they bowed out of the Carabao Cup in spectacular fashion at the Emirates. Expectancy levels were practically zero among the 4,000 travelling fans, whose raucous support to the bitter end was the unquestionable highlight of a humbling evening. Aaron Collins’s excellent second-half strike at least gave them a sliver of satisfaction to take back to the North West on a rain-drenched night and this kind of scoreline did not sting quite as much as it once would have done.
Many of the fans who stayed past the final whistle to sing their undying love will be there at Crawley on Saturday, and Northampton next week, and it is in these lesser fixtures that the Whites can really prove if they have the mettle to turn around their season or not. But Arsenal’s class made this a training exercise at times, their young playmaker Ethan Nwaneri outstanding in the middle of the park, scoring twice. The Gunners’ three other goal-scorers, Declan Rice, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz may also have a decent future in the game.
Arsenal’s decision to make youth team keeper Jack Porter their youngest-ever starter at 16 years old was a major talking point throughout the day, with Mikael Arteta forced to dig deep into his roster thanks to injuries and unavailability. And although he was joined by a few more youngsters in the starting line-up, including the Premier League’s youngest-ever player, Ethan Nwaneri, the f.