Mikel Arteta rotated his side heavily in their 5-1 home rout over Bolton Wanderers to advance to the 4th round of the Carabao Cup, where they will face Preston North End.

He started 2 teenage full-backs in Myles Lewis-Skelly (18) and Josh Nichols (18) with Jakub Kiwior handed a rare start at right center-back.

He also included midfielder Ethan Nwaneri (17) in the starting XI, who ended up scoring 2 goals and was one of the stars of the match.

His 1st goal (37th minute) was created by Raheem Sterling, making his first Arsenal start after a pair of cameo appearances, when the loanee fizzed in a low cross that Gabriel Jesus missed and Nwaneri pounced on and tapped-in. Major kudos to Lewis-Skelly for freeing Sterling down the left with an incisive pass that cut open the Bolton defense.

Nwaneri’s 2nd goal (49th minute) was a cool finish past Bolton goalkeeper Luke Southwood after Declan Rice pressed high and stole the ball off a Bolton player – who made a somewhat lazy pass.

Rice himself got on the scoresheet in the 16th minutes when a Bolton player had the chance to clear the ball, but missed. It rolled to the English midfielder, who took a touch, then shot from the top of the box, beating Southwood from distance.

Bukayo Saka played 71 minutes and was fairly quiet. He took a couple of shots that either went wide or were well defended. His moment of brilliance came when he utilized his dribbling skill in tight spaces, feinted a pass or two in the Bolton box and then shot. Luke Southwood pawed the ball away but right into the path of Sterling, who tapped it home for Arsenal’s 4th goal (64th minute).

This was the goal that killed the game off, as Bolton scored their lone goal of the game 10 minutes prior when Arsenal had most of their players up for a corner-kick and were hit on the break.

The ball ricocheted into the path of John McAtee near midfield, he then found Aaron Collins streaking past last-man standing Jorginho – not the best idea given his lack of foot speed.

Surprise goalkeeper 16-year-old Jack Porter, Arsenal’s youngest-ever starter, tried to dive and cut off the shooting angle, but missed, with Collins shooting far-post and scoring (53rd minute).

Porter was put in a terrible position, on the goal, and did immensely well overall for such a young player making his senior team debut.

Arsenal did a good job protecting the young fella by making sure he wasn’t put under too much pressure on set-pieces.

The only real mistake Porter made was in the 2nd half after receiving a back-pass from Gabriel Magalhães. The goalie tried to pass it between or over two Bolton players, who were pressing, and instead hit it right at one of them. Luckily, the Bolton player was surprised and skied the shot over the bar. Disaster averted. Distribution and decision-making are two things the young guy will need to work on and improve. Largely though, he was rock solid.

The 5th and final goal was scored by Kai Havertz (78th minute), who subbed on for Declan Rice in the 62nd minute. The German found himself at the Bolton penalty spot as Raheem Sterling let a shot go that was saved by Southwood, but directly to Kai – who reacted quickly, beat a Bolton defender to the ball and shot it past the ‘keeper.

Starting striker Gabriel Jesus, who had an uneven performance, controlled the ball while two Bolton defenders were bearing down on him, he wriggled free (and out of his boot) and found the streaking Sterling.

Jesus was also involved in the one major controversary of the match when he found himself, on the wrong side of a Bolton player, in the Arsenal box and got pretty physical with the opposition on the challenge. There is no VAR in the Carabao Cup, so whatever Josh Smith decided on the field, no penalty given, was final. On replay, Jesus looked like he might’ve clipped him and it could’ve easily been ruled a Bolton penalty if reviewed. Thankfully, for the Gunners, no reexamination could take place and Declan Rice scored like a minute or two later.

The last 10-15 minutes of the match were uneventful with Arsenal throttling down and handing Maldini Kacurri (18) and Ismeal Kabia (18) their senior team debuts.

It was a very good evening for the Gunners, who scored plenty in-front of the Emirates faithful and put on a show. It was also nice to see Mikel Arteta trust the youth and be rewarded with a sterling performance by Ethan Nwaneri, with Jack Porter, Myles Lewis-Skelly & Josh Nichols all putting in solid performances. Raheem Sterling was excellent and looks like he could help Arsenal in attack.

Next up for Arsenal is a home Premier League match on Saturday (9/28 – 7:00am) against Leicester City, who currently sit in 15th place on 3 points (0W-3D-2L). The Foxes haven’t gotten off to a good start, but have enough quality within the squad to give the Gunners trouble if they aren’t careful. Striker Jamie Vardy is still a deadly finisher and a wind-up merchant, so Arsenal must remain level-headed when dealing with him.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!