Mikel Arteta\u2019s men were saved by 16-year-old Max Dowman<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cHe changed the game every time he got the ball,\u201d Arteta, who tore down the touchline in manic celebration at both his side\u2019s late goals in Saturday\u2019s dramatic 2-0 win over Everton, said.<\/p>\n
Dowman was the creator for the opener as his cross deceived Jordan Pickford, handing Viktor Gyokeres a tap-in.<\/p>\n
Pickford was stranded upfield moments later after going forward for a late Everton corner when Arsenal broke.<\/p>\n
Dowman collected possession deep inside his own half and wove past Vitaliy Mykolenko and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall before running free towards an open goal and becoming the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo do it at that age, in this context, with the pressure and expectations to win the game, it\u2019s just not normal,\u201d Arteta added.<\/p>\n
TOPSHOT – Arsenal’s English midfielder #56 Max Dowman celebrates scoring their late second goal during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates Stadium in London on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Ben STANSALL \/ AFP) \/ RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club\/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club\/league\/player publications. \/Source: AFP<\/p>\n
The Gunners boss has a delicate balancing act to strike between giving Dowman the minutes to flourish while not putting too much expectation on his shoulders.<\/p>\n
But his impact has taken Arsenal a giant strike towards ending their long wait for the title, with the leaders now nine points ahead of second-placed Manchester City.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think of magical Premier League moments,\u201d Gary Neville said on his podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not an Arsenal fan but I felt a little bit emotional watching that last night just for the young kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really special in a number of ways. One, the celebration, just the players on the pitch, the way in which you know that\u2019s how football should be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was an absolute beautiful goal – you need to be exceptional to be able to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made it look so easy that it looked like anybody could do it but honestly, there are very few who could do that – and to do it at 16.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like a defining moment in Arsenal\u2019s modern history.\u201d<\/p>\n
More Iranian footballers leave Australia | 01:38<\/p>\n
CITY SLUMP, HAALAND BARREN SPELL<\/p>\n
Manchester City remain alive for now in four competitions, but their season is at risk of unravelling quickly.<\/p>\n
Draws against two of the sides in the relegation battle — West Ham and Nottingham Forest — in their last two league games have allowed Arsenal to gallop clear at the top.<\/p>\n
City have a mountain to climb when 15-time European champions Real Madrid visit the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday protecting a 3-0 first-leg lead.<\/p>\n
And they go head-to-head with Arsenal for the first silverware of the season in next weekend\u2019s League Cup final.<\/p>\n
Early in the campaign, City were able to rely on a steady stream of Erling Haaland goals to keep pace at the top of the table, but the Norwegian\u2019s form has tailed off in 2026.<\/p>\n
Of Haaland\u2019s 42 goals for club and country this season, 38 came in his first 28 appearances of the campaign.<\/p>\n
And two of his four in the 18 games since have come from the penalty spot. <\/p>\n
\u201cErling knows it, we need his goals but we need to create more,\u201d City boss Pep Guardiola said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor him to be involved we have to create that threat. He will be back soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manchester City’s Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland reacts on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Manchester City at the London Stadium, in east London on March 14, 2026. The game finished 1-1. (Photo by Ian Kington \/ AFP) \/ RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club\/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club\/league\/player publications. \/Source: AFP<\/p>\n
Guardiola was also unwilling the say the title race is over, saying his team has the ability to run down Arsenal.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s not over. We didn\u2019t lose. We continue,\u201d he told TNT Sports. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an incredible team spirit and we fought after an incredible amount of effort in Madrid, the result and how we play.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, we have more control for the shape, for the quality of the players, and we put energy in the second half with incredible talent players. The last two games, nothing for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played much, much better. Not just the stats, the feelings. We are an incredible team. We play so good. The players guide and go, until the end, we continue. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt will happen that season. We didn\u2019t score enough goals when we had the quality to score and with a lack of scoring goals, the punishments. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause a team can score one goal, even two, but we always had that team\u2019s ability to score a lot, a lot, a lot. I don\u2019t know how many times we scored five goals in ten years, having incredible stats and that. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this season, we had the chance. I remember perfect Sunderland and Chelsea at home, Brighton at home and today, nothing for us. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat, of course, today in modern football, playing 90, 95 minutes, being consistent is difficult, but our momentum is there and the stats are always there. <\/p>\n
\u201cExcept for two games, Arsenal away, United away. We didn\u2019t deserve anything. The rest, we have been better. And unfortunately, we didn\u2019t score enough goals. That is the punishment this season when we had the quality to score.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tottenham offered a glimmer of hope in their fight against relegation, while a Manchester United great urged his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[2620,221784,53035,1724,6236,269203,64,63,689,86305,11405,269206,185800,214174,6257,50014,69240,17057,269205,70375,269215,269209,65436,169262,225626,2057,100805,122482,269211,6231,596,6234,6246,13774,59917,29545,112414,269202,269217,194618,269207,214167,119867,269213,50609,137087,67609,88525,1613,13504,2557,269210,11999,6255,211654,673,3583,677,70369,132248,24938,228146,269212,1614,99083,43269,53016,233018,269216,269208,53958,146134,6228,2643,53077,6229,3595,2020,85,269204,269201,269200,268172,269214,7663,22294,269199,940,45073,70380,3586,6237,12000],"class_list":["post-543322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-anthony-stephen-tony-burke","tag-arsenal-football-club","tag-asia","tag-aston-villa-football-club","tag-asylum-bid","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-barren-spell","tag-box-seat","tag-breaks-record","tag-brutal-verdict","tag-caretaker-manager","tag-champions-league","tag-city-boss","tag-city-of-liverpool","tag-city-of-manchester","tag-city-slump","tag-club-league-logos","tag-croatian-head-coach","tag-crucial-derby-moment","tag-defining-moment","tag-delicate-balancing","tag-domestic-cups","tag-europe","tag-european-champions","tag-european-football","tag-family-claims","tag-fixture-lists","tag-football","tag-football-match","tag-football-news","tag-football-team","tag-gary-neville","tag-ian-kington","tag-igor-tudor","tag-improved-second-half-display","tag-incredible-talent-players","tag-incredible-team","tag-incredible-team-spirit","tag-interim-boss","tag-interim-manager","tag-iranian-footballers-leave","tag-jamie-carragher","tag-jamie-redknapp","tag-league-games","tag-league-matches","tag-liverpool","tag-liverpool-football-club","tag-madrid","tag-manager-debate","tag-manchester-city-football-club","tag-manchester-united-football-club","tag-michael-carrick","tag-new-south-wales","tag-northern-europe","tag-oceania","tag-online-in-match","tag-penalty-spot","tag-pep-guardiola","tag-permanent-manager","tag-peter-byrne","tag-premier-league","tag-province-of-madrid","tag-real-madrid-c-f","tag-relegation-battle","tag-relegation-fight","tag-relegation-rivals","tag-result-means","tag-roy-keane","tag-scoring-goals","tag-single-club-league-player-publications","tag-sky-sports","tag-soccer-match","tag-social-media-in-match","tag-southern-europe","tag-spain","tag-sports","tag-spurs-bank-point","tag-spurs-hope","tag-spurs-strikers","tag-stoke-city-football-club","tag-successive-league-defeats","tag-talking-points","tag-title-race","tag-treble-winning-teammate","tag-turkey","tag-unai-emery","tag-unauthorised-audio","tag-united-kingdom","tag-video-emulation","tag-western-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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