Eighteen-year-old sub Eddie Nketiah scored twice, including an extra-time goal to help Arsenal progress in the Carabao Cup. After their 5-2 win at Goodison Park against Everton, ESPN's Alison Bender and Stewart Robson discuss why Arsenal can always perform consistently.
This article has been updated and originally appeared on ESPN FC on March 28, 2017.
The Emirates has a new darling after Eddie Nketiah announced his arrival on the big stage with two goals against in the Carabao Cup against Norwich on Tuesday. The 18-year-old came on in the 85th minute and levelled the scores at 1-1 seconds later with his first touch, before netting the winner in extra-time.
Not a bad home debut for the teenager, who drew some chants of "Who?" when he was brought on by Arsene Wenger.
Nketiah made sure those fans will remember his name, but here are some more details about the Arsenal starlet ...
Prolific scorer
Nketiah's heroics weren't surprising to those who have followed him the last couple of years. The teenager simply can't stop scoring. Nketiah is widely seen as the most natural finisher on the club's books and netted 24 goals for Arsenal youth teams in each of the last two seasons. That included an impressive hat trick for the Under-23s against Leicester in November, when he was still 17. He also added seven goals for England's U18s and U19s, in that span including a hat trick against Qatar in March.
Henry-esque
Inevitably, Nketiah's performances have drawn plenty of comparisons to Thierry Henry, Arsenal's all-time leading goal-scorer. And like the former France striker, Nketiah combines a poacher's instinct with the ability to score spectacular goals. His hat trick against Leicester included a stunning curler into the far top corner and a run from inside his own half that was finished off with a low strike from the edge of the area.
Henry has been following Nketiah's rise and said on Twitter he was "not surprised at all," by his two goals against Norwich.
Thanks Thierry, means a lot ?? https://t.co/4U2BsSgKNG
— Eddie Nketiah (@EddieNketiah9) 24 October 2017
Let go by Chelsea
If Nketiah goes on to have a successful career at senior level, Arsenal fans will take extra pleasure from the fact the club snapped him up after he was let go by London rivals Chelsea. Nketiah signed for Chelsea as a boy, but was released from the Blues' academy in 2015. Arsenal quickly pounced, inviting him for a trial before making the forward a full scholar. He was given his first professional contract last season and it seems a good bet that Chelsea could soon be ruing one that got away.
"I don't know what happened at Chelsea," Wenger said on Tuesday about Nketiah's move. "I don't know why exactly they let him go, or he decided to leave. But we are happy to have him."
Eddie Nketiah announced himself to the Arsenal faithful in style by scoring twice against Norwich.
What's next?
Fans will undoubtedly hope to see Nketiah on the pitch again as soon as possible, but Wenger made it clear he won't rush the teenager back into action. Tuesday was only Nketiah's second first team appearance after coming on as a late sub in the Europa League game at BATE Borisov, and he's unlikely to make the Premier League squad anytime soon. He remains well behind Alexandre Lacazette, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in the pecking order while it's worth noting that Wenger had already brought on U23 striker Chuba Akpom as his first option off the bench.
"Let's not be too quick (to hype him up)," Wenger said. "One of the big problems in modern society is to give them time to develop and not making stars too quickly."
A loan move could still be a possibility in January, with Reiss Nelson still the academy player who looks closest to a real first team breakthrough.
Mattias is ESPN FC's Arsenal correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @MattiasKaren.
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Source: espn.co.uk