Everton of England midfielder, Alex Iwobi found himself in the spotlight of his former club, Arsenal, once again, with record watchers running back in the days to recall how he set a similar record with the one enacted by Brazilian youngster, Gabriel Martinelli against West Ham United, megasportsarena.com reports.
While Martinelli became the youngest player to score for The Gunners on his full EPL debut, aged 18 years and 174 days, when he struck in the 60th minute of Arsenal’s 3-1 win against The Hammers on Monday night at London Stadium, Iwobi is the youngest Nigerian to score for the club in his first start with the team.
Iwobi was aged 19 years and 320 days when he struck his first EPL goal on his debut start for The Gunners in a game that came, dramatically, against his current club, Everton, as he made hay just three minutes before half-time, with an assist from Héctor Bellerín.
Interestingly, Iwobi’s debut EPL goal comes with a startling mark that betters that achieved by Martinelli, as the Super Eagles star made it happen after six matches as a substitute, while the latest lad on all lips got his milestone during his eighth match on Monday night.
Furthermore, Iwobi spent an overall of 80 minutes in action for the London club before he finally got his first goal in the EPL, while Martinelli got his landmark bull’s eye after 155 minutes, but the Brazilian kid is the lad all mouths are running lyrical over for now.
That put him ahead of another Nigerian-born lad, Bukayo Saka, who was on The Gunners’ bench for all 90 minutes of Monday’s game, while James Olayinka was not listed for the game, despite training with the main squad heading into the fixture.
Martinelli marked his full debut with a goal on the hour mark and it was Arsenal’s first shot on target, as Freddie Ljungberg’s side turned it around with a stunning goal from record signing Nicolas Pepe, his first goal from open play since joining the club, which turned round the game.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added a third in the 69th minute to secure the three points for the North London club, but there was no show for Saka, who has played only 12 minutes for the side since the sack of Unai Emery by the club’s management.
Chimaobi Victor@chimas2010