Arsenal 15-year-old Max Dowman scored an excellent hat-trick as the u18s continued their strong run of form with another win over Leicester City on Saturday.
The Arsenal u18s still have a shot at winning the u18 Premier League title this season, but they have to be pretty much flawless from here on out.
The team knew they needed all three points away to Leicester City on Saturday, and star midfielder Max Dowman couldn’t have done much more to help them.
Dowman helped Alex Marciniak to open the scoring for Arsenal, playing a clever pass to assist the close-range goalscorer for 1-0. Everton equalised minutes later, but Dowman quickly got the Gunners back into the lead with a solo run from the halfway line.
Dowman then made it 3-1 in the 57th minute with a very similar goal, again running all the way from the halfway line into the opposition penalty area before finishing. The two goals are available to watch here.
Once again, Leicester rallied, pulling one back for 3-2. Again, Dowman responded, scoring a penalty a minute later to complete his hat-trick.
The hosts had one more goal in them, with Louis Page scoring for 4-3. But Leicester’s Will Daniels was sent off in injury time, and Arsenal’s Brando Bailey-Joseph scored from close range for 5-3 to kill the match for good.
Arsenal remain fifth in the u18 Premier League table, but with enough games in hand to overtake three of the four teams above them. They’ll need to keep winning, but with Dowman in this kind of form that seems very possible.
Despite his midfield role, Dowman now has 12 goals and three assists in 20 games in all competitions for the Arsenal academy. That includes his cameo in the Premier League 2, playing for the u21s despite only turning 15 in December.
Away from Arsenal, Dowman has been just as impressive for the England u17s, scoring three goals and scoring two in six games to help the team qualify for the u17 Euros and the u17 World Cup later this year.
For now, the player’s focus will be on Arsenal’s next game against Norwich City next Saturday, April 12th at 12:00 BST.
