History was made during Arsenal’s match against Brentford as Gunners youngster Ethan Nwaneri became the Premier League’s youngest ever player.
Nwaneri aged just 15 years and 181 days old came on to replace summer signing Fabio Vieira in stoppage time during Mikel Arteta’s side’s 3-0 win over the Bees at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The previous record was held by Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott, who made his Premier League debut for Fulham when he was 16 years and 30 days old.
Nwaneri found himself with an opportunity to impress Arteta after injuries to some of Arsenal’s first team players.
The Gunners boss said prior to the match against Brentford: “We have the opportunities to bring young players on.
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“We are pretty short and opportunities come when issues arise.”
Nwaneri, who was born in 2007, has already made a number of appearances for Arsenal’s U-18 side when he was just 14.
He has also played for England at U-16 level.
Arsenal produced a brilliant display as they climbed back to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable win.
It was a much needed win after the disappointing 3-1 defeat by Manchester United last time out.
William Saliba expertly headed in from a corner in the 17th minute to give Arteta’s side the lead.
Star manb Gabriel Jesus made it 2-0 in the 28th minute and the Gunners went into the half time interval two goals to the good.
In the second half, Arsenal continued to dominate as Brentford looked lethargic.
Vieira scored a stunner on his full Premier League debut in the 49th minute to put the game beyond any doubt.
After the match Jesus expressed his delight.
The Brazilian said: “From the start we showed what we want to do in the game, create chances and score. That is what I believe we did.
“He found me for the goal and I am so happy to play with him, he is an intelligent and quality player."
“The celebration was for my guy Vinicius Jnr, it needs to stop and it was for him.”
Topics: Arsenal, Premier League, Brentford
Marcus Chan