Ethan Nwaneri made his mark on the Arsenal stage as his brace took the Gunners into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a routine 5-1 win over Bolton, a victory that also featured a goal from Raheem Sterling on his senior debut.

On a night when Mikel Arteta gave four young academy products their first starts, Nwaneri was the standout player for a youthful home side. The 17-year-old rising star scored two goals before and after half-time to put a significant gap between his team and their League One opponents.

After Declan Rice had put the Gunners ahead following a mistake by Scott Arfield on the edge of the box, Nwaneri converted a cross from Sterling just before half-time.

After the break, Rice was able to slot home Chris Forino deep in Bolton’s half and Nwaneri picked up the ball and calmly shot past goalkeeper Luke Southwood.

Bolton, who saw Arfield miss a good early chance to take the lead, untested 16-year-old Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Porter – standing in for injured duo David Raya and Tommy Setford, as well as the cup-suspended Neto – for 53 minutes, by which time they were already 3-0 down.

This attempt actually brought them back into contention when striker Aaron Collins broke through the Gunners’ defence on a counterattack, dribbled past the young goalkeeper and shot into the empty net.

Porter almost gifted Collins another goal when his back pass fell straight to the Bolton striker, but the striker was unpunished and the ball crashed awkwardly into the net. And Bolton paid for the mistake as Sterling diverted Bukayo Saka’s shot a yard from goal to restore their three-goal lead.

Kai Havertz came off the bench to round off his scoring with a fifth goal for the Gunners, putting the finishing touches to a fine home win.

WATCH: All the goals from Arsenal’s five-star performance!

Arteta analyses the performance of his young players

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on Jack Porter, who became the youngest goalkeeper in Arsenal’s history:

“We told him yesterday and I think he spoke to his family straight away. They weren’t prepared for it, it’s a big step, it’s a big event for them. I think they were nervous about it, but he reacted really well. He was really calm in training and today too. His teammates really helped him with that too. An experience and what a way to break a record.

About Ethan Nwaneri …

“The second one (I was happy for him because he scored and I know how his teammates would have reacted if he hadn’t!

“Overall, he was really good again – a really strong performance from him. He really feels like a part of us. You can tell that he plays with the confidence and the conviction that he knows what to do on the pitch.”

“This is another step. He is ahead of all expectations. Since he joined the first team, he has always been ahead of our expectations and my expectations. He deserves it, he is part of us and he will get the playing time he needs.”

About Raheem Sterling:

“He’s getting better and better. You can see physically that he’s making progress. When the game opens up a bit, you know what he can do and what he can do. He was involved in a few goals, so it was a very positive evening for him.”

Bolton boss: Some ‘disappointing’ goals are self-inflicted

Bolton manager Ivan Evatt:

“Some of it I liked, some I didn’t. We’ve spoken to the players over the last few days about how they should score goals for Arsenal, but two or three of them are self-inflicted, which is disappointing.

“We should have had a penalty. I don’t know if that would have made a difference, but what’s right is right. Arsenal had two big moments in the first half and scored two goals.”

“It’s really difficult to build up play and score goals against Arsenal. I think we had some positive moments.

“We scored one or two more, especially in the first half. But overall it was a good experience, we earned the right to be here. Financially it’s fantastic for the club and it’s time to focus on the league season.”