If Max Dowman was ‘impossible to resist’ for Thomas Tuchel before, it is difficult to fathom quite how Arsenal should be expected to keep themselves from handing the 16-year-old a lifetime contract on the wave of a euphoric victory over Everton.
Hours after previous opponents Mansfield battled to a home draw with Barnsley thanks to a stoppage-time equaliser, Dowman produced a remarkable and transformative 16-minute cameo at the Emirates.
And considering a decent 77 minutes in a scrappy win over bottom-half League One opposition drew Lamine Yamal comparisons, it’s worth considering what correlations a Jordan Pickford-stranding cross and a goal drenched in title-clinching narrative to unlock an obdurate Everton and secure three crucial points might evoke.
The easy juxtaposition is with Wayne Rooney: a 16-year-old breaking the youngest Premier League goalscorer record to decide a game between Arsenal and an Everton side managed by David Moyes. But the weight of title expectation might well elevate it beyond that.
That Dowman was even introduced at all is startling.
It was the fifth die that Mikel Arteta rolled after Cristhian Mosquera (due to injury), Viktor Gyokeres – ‘dropped’ according to Miguel Delaney but fairly obviously just ‘rested’ in reality – Gabriel Martinelli and Piero Hincapie. But also on the bench after 74 goalless minutes was Gabriel Jesus.
Arsenal, needing inspiration to break the deadlock and at least maintain but also very possibly increase their points advantage at the top of the table, overlooked a player with 78 Premier League goals and four title winner’s medals for someone with 27 career minutes in the top flight.
Dowman had not even played in the Premier League since the August defeat to Liverpool. But that faith was repaid in extraordinary circumstances.
Pickford had not put a foot wrong all game but the Everton keeper’s misjudgement of a Dowman cross in the 89th minute was pivotal. Hincapie knew little about it but his instinctive touch nudged the ball towards the line before the process was completed by Gyokeres.
There was no storm to withstand but the weather was relatively inclement for Arsenal from there. The only shot Everton mustered after going behind was blocked, yet a corner in the seventh minute of stoppage time offered an irresistible opportunity for Gunners-based schadenfreude.
The hosts navigated it seamlessly. Gyokeres threw himself at a front-post header to clear, Martinelli nodded it on further and Dowman had two defenders to beat while Pickford camped in the Arsenal area.
The teenager weaved past Vitaliy Mykolenko and through James Garner for a procession from the halfway line as an exuberant Emirates allowed itself a collective few seconds to believe.
It was a little reminiscent of Mo Salah’s goal against Manchester United in January 2020. The Egyptian had far more to do and that win granted Liverpool a 14-point lead with a game in hand rather than Dowman’s open net to grant Arsenal a ten-point advantage having played two games more than Manchester City.
But as Dowman raced clear and the tension evaporated with another difficult hurdle overcome, it was almost possible to see that defensive screen being lifted. Arsenal, their fans and players having spent months refusing to get carried away, taking things one match at a time to an absurdly cliched but understandable extent, afforded themselves a brief moment of indulgence.
That air of self-protection will be restored by their next Premier League game at home to Bournemouth on April 11, but by then the complexion of their entire season and what is possible will have inexorably shifted.
Arsenal play Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-final before then. The Quadruple will either be as on as it ever has been, or have been rendered entirely impossible.
Dowman can expect a fair few opportunities in Arsenal’s next four games – all in as many competitions – before the possible title decider at the Etihad on April 19. That the incredibly ballsy Arteta felt he could trust him enough to bring him on here was astonishing, but the way the 16-year-old heeded his manager’s instruction to “go and do your thing. Win us the game,” was breath-taking.
