Stat, Viz, Quiz 139: Max Dowman, Arsenal’s Wonderkid and Record Breaker

Only recently, James Milner took the record for the most appearances in the Premier League.

Then, on Saturday, a player almost exactly 24 years Milner’s junior became the youngest ever goalscorer in the competition, funnily enough, a record the former Leeds man once held.

When Max Dowman was born on 31 December 2009, X Factor winner Joe McElderry was top of the UK music charts with ‘The Climb’, while new releases in the cinema included classics such as Avatar, Invictus, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.

Dowman’s goal for Arsenal against Everton also helped the Gunners further secure their position at the summit of the Premier League, and in this week’s SVQ, we’ll dive deeper into the significance of the 16-year-old’s historic moment.

Our Ask Opta question this week enquires about players who have had a lot of joy in a particular stadium as a visiting player, while in honour of Dowman’s achievement, our quiz is all about the Premier League’s youngest goalscorers.

We’ll start with another interesting stat from the weekend in the Premier League, though, as Manchester City’s title challenge suffered another setback.

After a chastening evening in Spain in midweek when they lost 3-0 to Real Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie, Manchester City could really have done with a morale-boosting win against relegation-threatened West Ham on Saturday, especially after seeing Arsenal’s late victory against Everton.

Bernardo Silva’s either brilliant or accidental goal to put City ahead seemed to suggest it would be a routine night for Pep Guardiola’s side, only for former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos to equalise, and the visitors failed to respond.

No team had recorded fewer than three shots in a Premier League match this season prior to the weekend, but Mavropanos’ header was the only effort the Hammers managed all game. It was an important one, though, as it secured them a 1-1 draw.

It was only the seventh time on record (since 2003-04) that a Premier League team has drawn a game despite only having one shot.

However, there have been two incidents of a team drawing having had no shots at all.

Ten-man West Brom (Thomas Gaardsoe was dismissed after 17 mins) managed to secure a 1-1 draw away to Man City in December 2004 despite the notable handicap of not having any shots. A Richard Dunne own goal five minutes from time cancelled out Nicolas Anelka’s opener and earned the Baggies an unlikely point.

Then in March 2018, Huddersfield Town hosted Swansea City, with the Welsh side reduced to 10 men in just the 11th minute when Jordan Ayew was sent off. This led to total domination from the hosts, who had 30 shots to Swansea’s zero. However, the visitors were able to hold on for a 0-0 draw.

The fewest shots recorded by a team to win a Premier League game on record is two, which has happened five times, most recently when Leeds United beat Man City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in April 2021.

So, this seems to be something that particularly affects City. Maybe Guardiola’s next tactical evolution will need to be ensuring that his team never face a single shot ever again, while also doing their best not to score an own goal.

It’s a big ask, but if anyone can do it…

Two weeks ago, we talked about Lamine Yamal. This week it’s Max Dowman. Why do these teenagers feel the need to make the rest of us feel so old and inadequate?

Dowman’s goal against Everton at the weekend feels iconic for several reasons.

First, the numbers. At 16 years and 73 days, his injury-time strike made him the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history. He scored aged 197 days younger than the previous record-holder, former Everton striker James Vaughan, whose record had stood for more than two decades. You can find the top 20 on site, here. It is therefore noteworthy that he achieved the feat against the Toffees.

Even more coincidentally, Vaughan’s goal to secure the previous record was scored in April 2005 against Crystal Palace in a game in which he was managed by current Everton boss David Moyes, and was playing alongside Mikel Arteta. At that point, Dowman was still almost five years away from being born.

Just to add to the strange coincidences, Arsenal’s first Premier League game after Dowman’s birth was at home to, yep, Everton. Tomás Rosický rescued a point for the Gunners in stoppage time in a 2-2 draw on 9 January 2010.

Could Dowman’s goal become the defining moment of Arsenal’s impending title winning campaign? The reaction inside the stadium suggested something special was unfolding.

The sound and reaction of the home crowd as Dowman broke away, nodded the ball past Vitalii Mykolenko and sent Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall sprawling was feverish.

When he rolled the ball into the empty net, the roar was cathartic, a release of tension built up not over the course of 90 minutes, but over the last three years.

But aside from his age, Dowman entered the record books for another reason. From the moment he first carried the ball forward, he covered a total of 61.3 metres before finishing into an empty net.

That run ranks as the sixth-longest carry leading directly to a goal in the Premier League since detailed data recording began for this metric in 2015-16. You can read more about that achievement here.

His goal was the headline moment, but Dowman had already changed the game after coming on with 15 minutes remaining. Despite being brought on in the 74th minute, he completed more dribbles (five) than any other player on the pitch against Everton, underlining how direct and progressive he was whenever he received the ball.

He did not record the assist for Viktor Gyökeres’ opener, but it was Dowman’s whipped cross that created the opportunity in the first place. He is a special talent, and it says plenty that Arteta trusted him with the game, and perhaps the title, on the line.

1. Tottenham’s Andy Turner scored against Everton in September 1992 aged just 17 years and 166 days. He held the record as the youngest Premier League goalscorer until Michael Owen (17y 143d) bagged for Liverpool in May 1997 against which opponent?

2. Wayne Rooney (16y 360d) did a reverse Max Dowman and became the Premier League’s youngest scorer for Everton against Arsenal in October 2002. Who beat his record just over two months later, though?

3. Which Liverpool player became just the fourth 16-year-old to score in the Premier League earlier this season?

4. After Dowman’s goal, which former Arsenal player is now only the second youngest to score for the club in the Premier League?

5. James Vaughan held the Premier League’s youngest scorer record for almost 21 years before Dowman broke it this weekend, but how many goals did Vaughan score in England’s top flight in total? A) 1, B) 7, or C) 14?

Scroll to the bottom for the answers.

Our question this week comes from Matt P, who asks: “Aaron Ramsdale has now won at Stamford Bridge with three different clubs. Has anyone won at a single opposition ground with more teams?”

Do you have a stat-based question you’d like Opta to answer in a future edition of SVQ? Email us at [email protected] or message us on X @OptaAnalyst with #AskOpta and we’ll pick the best one.

Answer:

Good question, Matt. Aaron Ramsdale did indeed add to his wins away to Chelsea as part of Newcastle’s 1-0 victory on Saturday, making him the first visiting player to win three times at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League with the different clubs (Newcastle, Arsenal and Bournemouth).

However, a few players have won at a single Premier League ground with four different visiting teams.

James Milner, unsurprisingly, is one of them, and he has done so at several different stadiums. The Brighton midfielder and Premier League record-appearance holder has won at the Boleyn Ground, Craven Cottage, Ewood Park, Goodison Park, Old Trafford and the Stadium of Light with four different teams.

No other player has won with four different teams at more than two opposition stadiums. Emile Heskey has done so at Craven Cottage and Villa Park, and Sylvain Distin has at St. James’ Park and the Stadium of Light.

Otherwise, Nicolas Anelka and Scott Parker have won at Ewood Park with four different teams, Glen Johnson has done so at Goodison Park, Danny Murphy at St. Andrews, Yossi Benayoun at what is now known as the Brick Community Stadium (Wigan Athletic), while Danny Mills, Danny Welbeck and Jonny Evans have all done so at Villa Park.

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1. Tottenham’s Andy Turner scored against Everton in September 1992 aged just 17 years and 166 days. He held the record as the youngest Premier League goalscorer until Michael Owen (17y 143d) bagged for Liverpool in May 1997 against which opponent?

Wimbledon

2. Wayne Rooney (16y 360d) did a reverse Max Dowman and became the Premier League’s youngest scorer for Everton against Arsenal in October 2002. Who beat his record just over two months later, though?

James Milner (16y 356d, for Leeds United vs Sunderland in December 2002)

3. Which Liverpool player became just the fourth 16-year-old to score in the Premier League earlier this season?

Rio Ngumoha (16y 361d, vs Newcastle United)

4. After Dowman, which former Arsenal player is now only the second youngest to score for the club in the Premier League?

Cesc Fàbregas (17y 113d, vs Blackburn Rovers in August 2004)

5. James Vaughan held the Premier League’s youngest scorer record for almost 21 years before Dowman broke it this weekend, but how many goals did Vaughan score in England’s top flight in total? A) 1, B) 7, or C) 14?

B) 7 (All in 47 appearances for Everton, and not scoring in five appearances for Norwich City)

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Until next time,
Opta Analyst