Arsenal's Dowman, 15, becomes youngest Champions League player

Arsenal midfielder Max Dowman became the youngest Champions League player ever after coming on as a 73rd-minute substitute in a 3-0 Champions League win at Slavia Prague on Tuesday.

Dowman, who is 15 years and 309 days old, beat German striker Youssoufa Moukoko, who played for Borussia Dortmund at Zenit St Petersburg at 16 years and 18 days in 2020.

At the post-match press conference in Prague, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hailed Dowman's "personality" and "courage".

"He comes in, the first ball he takes, he takes people on, he starts to dribble, he gets a foul," he said.

"You cannot teach that. You have it or you don't, and it doesn't matter what his passport says.

"You throw him in this context and he's there to adapt and have a good performance, so I'm really happy with that," Arteta added.

Dowman made his Premier League debut aged 15 years and 234 days during the Gunners' 5-0 win over Leeds on August 23.

He is the second-youngest Premier League player ever after Arsenal teammate Ethan Nwaneri, who was 53 days younger on his 2022 debut.

But Dowman became the youngest-ever player to start a match for Arsenal in the Gunners' 2-0 win over Brighton in the League Cup fourth round last week.

Arsenal's win in Czechia was their fourth in as many games in the competition.

For the Premier League leaders, the result also constituted a 10th straight win in all competitions and an eighth consecutive clean sheet.

They have now scored 11 goals and conceded none in the Champions League so far as they moved clear at the top of the standings.

Stand-in captain Bukayo Saka opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 32 minutes after Slavia captain Lukas Provod had handled the ball in the box clearing a corner.

Mikel Merino made it 2-0 from a quick breakaway 30 seconds into the second half as he volleyed home at the near post after Leandro Trossard's superb pass found him unmarked in the Slavia box.

He then beat Slavia goalkeeper Jakub Markovic with a header from Declan Rice's cross on 68 minutes.

The loss leaves Slavia, the Czech top-flight leaders, with two points from four games in the Champions League.