Arsenal secured safe passage to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup by beating Bolton 5-1 at the Emirates.
Goals from Ethan Nwaneri, Declan Rice, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz ensured the Gunners put on a show for their home crowd following an afternoon of defending in Manchester on Sunday.
Read on to discover what happened under the lights for Mikel Arteta’s men.
How it happened
Arsenal showed their class from the off in North London, with Declan Rice putting them ahead just 16 minutes into the match.
Bolton’s defensive frailties were on full display and allowed Rice to pounce on a loose ball on the edge of the box, drilling it into the bottom corner to settle early nerves at the Emirates.
Arsenal continued to pile pressure on and before long, they doubled their lead through young star Nwaneri.
Raheem Sterling, making his Arsenal debut as a starter, danced past a few Bolton defenders on the right flank and delivered a pinpoint cross for Nwaneri to tap in from close range in the 37th minute.
Despite some spirited attempts from Bolton, including a near miss by Aaron Collins just before half time, the Gunners remained firmly in control as they went into the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
In the second half, Arsenal wasted no time in extending their advantage.
ETHAN AT THE DOUBLE!
Nwaneri races through before driving it home to extend our lead 🤩
🔴 3-0 🟢 (49) pic.twitter.com/OqcgIKF3sv
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 25, 2024
Just four minutes after the restart, Nwaneri struck again to make it 3-0.
Bolton’s sloppy defending allowed Rice to tee up the youngster, who calmly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Luke Southwood.
The result seemed a foregone conclusion, but Bolton responded briefly with Collins pulling one back in the 53rd minute.
Collins latched onto a through ball from McAtee, rounding the 16-year-old Arsenal keeper, Porter, to score a consolation goal and offer a glimmer of hope.
However, that hope was short-lived as Arsenal’s relentless attack saw Raheem Sterling add a fourth goal in the 64th minute.
Bukayo Saka’s mesmerising dribbling left Bolton’s defence in disarray, and when Southwood fumbled his cross, Sterling was on hand to poke home his first Arsenal goal.
RAHEEEM!
Sterling gets off the mark with a cool finish 😎
🔴 4-1 🟢 (64) pic.twitter.com/4ck1XZPQBa
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 25, 2024
With the score at 4-1, Mikel Arteta made several substitutions to give some younger players valuable game time, including the introduction of Ismael Kabia and Maldini Kacurri.
The Gunners weren’t finished yet, and Kai Havertz rounded off the scoring in the 77th minute.
Gabriel Jesus worked his magic on the left, cutting through the Bolton defence and setting up Sterling, whose low shot was parried by Southwood.
However, Havertz was in the right place to convert the rebound, sealing a 5-1 victory for Arsenal.
Bolton fought bravely but were ultimately outclassed by their Premier League opponents, who advanced to the fourth round with ease.
