Yesterday’s victory against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Youth League was a major positive for Arsenal, especially with regards to the involvement of schoolboys.
Max Dowman scored a brace including a stunning late strike, while Kyran Thompson also registered his first goal in the competition.
There were debuts for substitutes Emerson Nwaneri, Angelinou Pedro and Luis Munoz, with the latter becoming the youngest ever player to feature in the competition, while goalkeeper Charlie Phillips was on the bench.
Although he wasn’t named on the teamsheet, another talented young goalkeeper was effectively the extra man against Bayern as he was given the opportunity to experience what a matchday at this level is like.
U14 goalkeeper Rafe Dowling is highly regarded at the club and will undoubtedly have benefited from the experience.
Dowling will hope that he will eventually get callups to the U18 and U16 squads.
With Arsenal all but eliminated from the Youth League there could be change for more schoolboys to be involved with the U19s in their final league phase game against Club Brugge next month.