Last year, Toney tweeted about a “nice game with the boys” after his side’s 2-0 win. This time the references to playground football became particularly relevant in stoppage time when Mikel Arteta felt confident enough to create a piece of history. He sent on schoolboy Ethan Nwaneri, who hadn’t been born when the Emirates Stadium was completed in 2006: aged 15 years and 181 days, the England under-17 international became Arsenal’s youngest player and the youngest to feature for any team. in the Premier League. Nuaneri made a tackle on his cape and, taking his time to get away at the end, deservedly enjoyed the moment. The Arsenal faithful were generous in their appreciation of the youngster and equally eager to acknowledge their team’s return to the top flight. When they resurface in two weekends’ time, it will be for a north London derby between bitter rivals who both look in great shape. It may be too early to draw any definitive conclusions, but Arteta appears to have put together a unit that can, at the very least, challenge for the top four. They were far superior to a Brentford side who had no chance until Mikel Damsgaard tested Aaron Ramsdale late on. Toney was smothered by Gabriel Magalhães, although the Brazilian had clearly picked up an injury in the warm-up, which also required treatment midway through the first half. to Gabriel’s right William Saliba combined graft with grace, a piece of defense when Tony seemed to have broken breathlessly with his sheer composure. Quick guide
The youngest players to feature in England’s top flight since 1992
projection Harvey Elliott (Fulham) 16 years, 30 daysThe midfielder came off the bench in Fulham’s 1-0 defeat by Wolves in May 2019. He made another brief appearance for the Cottagers that season before moving to Liverpool, where he has played 14 times in the Premier League. Matthew Briggs (Fulham) 16 years, 65 daysThe left-back became the Premier League’s youngest ever player in Fulham’s 3-1 defeat at Middlesbrough in May 2007. He made 29 appearances for the Cottagers. Since leaving permanently in 2015, he has played for a number of clubs in the English lower leagues and in Denmark and currently plays for Gosport Borough. Isaiah Brown (West Brom) 16 years, 117 daysThe midfielder, now 19, made his top-flight debut for Albion as a substitute in a late 3-2 defeat at home to Wigan in May 2013. He joined Chelsea that summer but made just one change for the first Blue team. He joined Preston in 2021 but was released this year after injury and is currently without a club. Aaron Lennon (Leeds) 16 years, 129 daysAt the time, the winger became the Premier League’s youngest player when he came off the bench for Leeds in a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham in August 2003. He moved to Spurs two years later and won 21 England caps. After 10 years at White Hart Lane, Lennon joined Everton in 2015. He has since spent two spells with Burnley either side of the year playing in Turkey, but is currently free. Jose Baxter (Everton) 16 years, 191 daysA 3-2 home defeat by Blackburn in 2008 saw Baxter make his Everton debut as a 78th-minute substitute. He made 13 substitute appearances and two starts before leaving for Oldham in 2012. In July 2015 he was suspended by the FA for failing an out-of-match drug test while at Sheffield United, who subsequently banned him in 2016 for an undisclosed reason. He returned to Everton and then Oldham before signing for Plymouth in 2019. He retired aged 29 in 2021 after a year playing in the US. PA Medium Thanks for your response. It was Saliba who put Arsenal in front with a more rudimentary effort, glancing Bukayo Saka’s corner to David Raya at the far post and changing the complexion of a game that had started convulsively in a strong wind. There was a short wait before David Coote signaled that he had crossed the line, Raya had got the ball back but nobody was in any doubt. Saliba had gotten in front of Tony before going up. it was a series that spoke aptly of the overall competition. “You could tell how much it meant to Arsenal, they knew it was difficult, look how they celebrated the first goal,” Thomas Frank said. They certainly enjoyed the moment, lingering in a lingering chat and perhaps reminding each other to move on from there. Frank had returned to the three, handing regular Kristoffer Ajer his first appearance of the season, and Brentford’s starting line-up did not look ideally equipped to chase a game. Start your evenings with the Guardian’s view of the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. They had opted for stability, but a brilliantly engineered second goal made further mockery of it. Granit Xhaka’s superbly drilled cross went over Pontus Jansson for Gabriel Jesus, whose movement was too much for the centre-back, to crane his neck to drive an emphatic header into Raya’s top-right corner. Jesus celebrated by kneeling down and pretending to shine the boots of Xhaka, who has had his creative juices flowing in recent weeks. Arsenal were missing Oleksander Zinchenko and Martin Ødegaard due to injury. The latter’s absence looked especially bothersome at the start and calls for Fábio Vieira, the 22-year-old summer signing from Porto, to impose himself in the same way. As it turned out Vieira answered every possible question on his first start in the top flight, delighting Arteta with his appetite for the duller aspects of the game and providing the boom that ended Brentford. William Saliba (left) heads in Arsenal’s opening goal at Brentford. Photo: Michael Zemanek/Shutterstock It came four minutes into the second half after Saka, with a dart inside that curled Ben Mee, found him in a pocket. If it was a surprise that no home player closed down Vieira, it was something else to see him produce a stunning, breath-taking 22-yard finish before rifling the net behind Raya. Nwaneri’s presence in a young Arsenal bench might suggest they lack depth, but being able to call upon such an accomplished deputy to captain them has eased those concerns. “He is a creative player who needs to play with his instincts and instincts,” Arteta said. “But what I also like is the way he fights.” The contest was over: the atmosphere, at least among the ranks at Brentford, had never started again and perhaps the midday kick-off was in Arsenal’s favour. It was now completely level, and the only major consolation for Frank was that his players did not fold. Raya saved twice from Jesus and, with a one-handed flight, from Saka, but it didn’t turn into the disaster it could have been. Even so, the point was well made. Ghosts are rarely killed so easily but, as Brentford tried to apply pressure late on, even long-range shots of the sort that caused such controversy in August 2021 were dealt with comfortably. For Arsenal, a stroll could yet become the most exciting of sprints.
