Days after an emergency switch of position in the north London derby, Ethan Nwaneri’s younger brother was again at the centre of late Arsenal drama.
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Emerson Nwaneri completed a remarkable few days by scoring the late equaliser for Arsenal Under-19s in a 3-3 draw away to Bayern Munich, having finished the weekend playing in goal for the club’s Under-18s against Tottenham.
The younger brother of Ethan Nwaneri came off the bench in Munich and rescued a point as Arsenal recovered from being 3-1 down at half-time in Wednesday’s UEFA Youth League match.
Arsenal had actually taken the lead after 11 minutes through Hakeem Abubakar, whose goal followed a well-worked set-piece routine.
But their advantage lasted only four minutes. Allen Lambe punished Elijah Upson after the Arsenal defender failed to clear properly, before Bayern moved ahead on the half-hour.
The referee decided that Arsenal captain Marli Salmon had caught Erblin Osmani, who converted the resulting penalty. The spot kick was a shocking decision from the official.
Guido Della Rovere then curled home from outside the area in the 43rd minute to send Bayern into the interval 3-1 ahead.
Arsenal, however, responded strongly after the break.
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Salmon began the comeback in the 68th minute by converting from a free-kick delivered by Maalik Hashi.
Nwaneri was then involved as Arsenal pushed for an equaliser.
One miscued effort dropped to Ceadach O’Neill inside the six-yard box, only for Bayern goalkeeper David Poder-Stiube to deny him.
But Arsenal kept going and were finally rewarded late on.
Nwaneri drove a powerful low shot through a crowded penalty area and into the bottom corner to make it 3-3 in the 91st minute.
The result left David Horseman’s side with four points from their opening three Youth League matches and 18th in the league-phase table.
The top 22 qualify for the knockout rounds.
After the game, Horseman praised the response from a young side.
“This type of game is the reason we love the competition,” Horseman said. “I thought it was a game of the highest level.
“There were outstanding players on both teams. The tactical challenges, the way they rotated and moved in our face, I think maybe Brighton in the PL2 are probably the only team that comes similar to moving like that.
“Then you could see when we equalised at the end, what it meant to the players, and I think this competition gives all those things, and I think probably a draw is a fair result.”
For Nwaneri, the goal completed an extraordinary few days following Saturday’s north London derby against Tottenham.
Photo by Cameron Howard/Getty Images
Arsenal Under-18s lost both recognised goalkeepers during their 2-1 victory. Jack Talbot was forced off after a collision with Oliver Boast, before his replacement Maximilian Lo Presti was also injured after being caught by Phoenix Offiah while trying to claim a cross.
With nobody else available, Nwaneri put on the gloves and completed the match without conceding.
He also played a part in Arsenal’s 97th-minute winner.
After Joel Vidal-Philbert had put Tottenham ahead and Mylo Bernard equalised, Nwaneri launched a long free-kick from deep late in the game.
The ball reached Luis Munoz, who moved it wide to Bernard. The striker cut inside and sent a long-range effort in off the crossbar for his second goal of the game.
Explaining how he ended up between the posts, he said: “After the goalies got injured unfortunately, Abraham was asking me and told me ‘you should go in goal.’
“I thought he was joking but I was fine with doing it because I know I’m quite good in goal. I played a bit at secondary school and I also did it last season for the under 16s in small-sided games with Michael Donaldson. Only in training, but I was used to it.
“I wasn’t that nervous, to be honest. Our coach Josh Smith just said to get the ball up the field as much as possible, which helped us get the winning goal.”
Photo via Arsenal.com