'Eddie Nketiah was not even conceived when I was already at Arsenal!' - Arsene Wenger reflects on staggering goal stat

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James Benge25 October 2017

Arsene Wenger was utterly delighted to see Eddie Nketiah save Arsenal from EFL Cup elimination at Norwich’s hands… at least until he was reminded of the young gun’s tender age.

Nketiah scored 15 seconds after being introduced as an 85th minute substitute with the Gunners trailing to Josh Murphy’s first half strike.

In doing so, the 18-year-old became the first player born after Wenger was appointed Arsenal manager to find the net for the 68-year-old.

"Unfortunately that happens now," Wenger joked. "I must say I am impressed to think that he was not even conceived when I was already here.

"It’s good as well because life gives chances to young people. Hopefully he will have a long career at Arsenal Football Club.

"We are proud to give a chance to young players. It’s part of our DNA and we want to continue to do that."

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Though Nketiah found himself propelled from relative unknown to Arsenal cult hero in less than half an hour, Wenger was keen to manage the hype around the London-born striker, batting off comparisons with Ian Wright.

A goalscoring sensation in the Hale End youth setup, Nketiah took his opener with the maturity of a veteran poacher, tapping home from close range after Francis Coquelin had flicked on a Theo Walcott corner.

He then repeated the trick six minutes into extra time, outjumping the Norwich defence to convert Mohamed Elneny’s corner and take his tally to two goals in two Arsenal appearances.

Nketiah’s introduction had been a desperate last throw of the dice by Wenger, whose side were only still in the competition through a combination of profligate Norwich finishing and impressive saves from debutant goalkeeper Matt Macey.

"We lacked a few ideas to create clear cut chances," Wenger admitted. "I was impressed by the defensive performance of Norwich.

"You sit there on the bench and think ‘what can we do to be a bit more dangerous?’ You’re in a position where it would take a big gamble because you’re 1-0 down and there’s not much time to go.

"I know he can score a goal. I know as well that he has character. He’s not afraid. He smells the combination movement.

"He can give and go. Once a player has that they always have a chance. The guys that can understand where to pick the ball up and know when to get it back, the quality of the reception is a very important quality. He has that."

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Though Wenger had named a strong starting XI including an attacking trident of Jack Wilshere, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott he had opted, as has become the norm in Europa League and EFL Cup ties, to populate the bench with the best of Arsenal’s youth sides.

While that has allowed the likes of Reiss Nelson, Marcus McGuane and Nketiah to make the step up, it seemed to have been a mistake when Wenger’s senior players failed to break down a resilient Canaries backline.

However, Wenger insisted that he had not been feeling the pang of regrets for not naming Alexis Sanchez or Alexandre Lacazette on the bench when he turned to Nketiah.

"The boy Eddie is a good example," he told Standard Sport. "If I had experienced strikers on the bench I would certainly have put them on and not Eddie.

"Here you have no chance to put an experienced player on so you try to find a young player who can give you a chance. [He came on] because there was no experienced striker on the bench."