Arsenal 5 - 1 Bolton Wanderers - Match Report

We advanced to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 5-1 win over Bolton Wanderers courtesy of a mixture of youth and experience.

Declan Rice struck us into the lead and Ethan Nwaneri got his first goal for Arsenal in the first half, before the latter welcomed choruses of “he’s one of our own” with his brace.

Aaron Collins pulled one back for the visitors, but Raheem Sterling netted his first goal for us to make it 4-1 in the second half, before Kai Havertz wrapped up the win.

It was Bolton who came closest to making an early breakthrough, John McAtee crossing from the right for Scott Arfield to hook the ball over the bar from close range.

In response, Raheem Sterling - making his first start for us - lifted a cross to the far post at the other end. Bukayo Saka retreated to keep the ball in play, nodding it into the path of Gabriel Jesus, whose volley was blocked.

The deadlock was broken in the 16th minute as debutant Josh Nichols’ cross wasn’t properly cleared after he was cleverly found by Nwaneri. Rice was on hand to shift the ball onto his right foot and pick out the bottom right corner.

Sterling’s next cross from the left was chested down by Saka and this time Jesus attempted an audacious overhead kick with the ball carried wide by a deflection. Subsequently, Jorginho snuck a clever, precise ball through to Saka, whose cross was hooked wide on the volley by Jesus.

McAtee volleyed over the bar for Bolton before then having the ball in the back of the net, only for the flag to be raised for offside.

Our lead became more comfortable in the 37th minute as Myles Lewis-Skelly found Sterling racing down the left. The latter timed his run well to stay onside and crossed into a dangerous area. Nwaneri’s positioning was spot on, meaning all he had to do was tap the ball across the line for 2-0.

Sterling almost had a goal for himself when he curled a long-ranger towards the top right corner, forcing a good save from Luke Southwood.

Jesus muscled Ricardo Santos off of the ball and fired wide of the bottom left corner just before half-time.

Four minutes into the second half, Bolton only had themselves to blame when they gave the ball away in a dangerous area, allowing Rice to find Nwaneri who tucked it beyond Southwood for 3-0.

But, after Southwood parried a Saka effort around the post, Bolton pulled one back when Collins broke through on the counter-attack and went around Jack Porter before knocking the ball across the line.

With half an hour remaining, it was time to make a change, as Mikel Arteta replaced Rice and Lewis-Skelly with Gabriel and Havertz.

Our three-goal lead was restored in the 64th minute after Sterling cleverly flicked the ball through to Saka. The latter was patient to assess his options before turning to his right and firing the ball into the box with too much power for Southwood, who spilled it into the path of Sterling. All that was left to do was follow up and poke it across the line and he duly obliged for his first Arsenal goal.

Riccardo Calafiori, three days on from his screamer at Etihad Stadium, felt he’d earned the right to listen to the urges to shoot from long range moments later, but this time the right-footed curler sailed just over.

There was still time for a first senior appearance in red and white for Maldini Kacurri, who came on alongside Gabriel Martinelli to replace Saka and Calafiori respectively.

Jorginho picked out Sterling with a delicate delivery over the top of the Bolton backline, the latter forcing a corner to be conceded by Southwood and, after the following set-piece, Sterling wriggled into the area, saw another shot spilled, allowing Havertz to hook it across the line for five.

Ismeal Kabia was the next Hale End graduate to be introduced, coming on for Sterling with ten minutes to go.

Premier League football returns to Emirates Stadium with the visit of Leicester City in Saturday's 3pm kick-off.