This was a proper FA Cup tie — Premier League leaders Arsenal pushed every step of the way by League One strugglers Mansfield Town before they advanced to next month’s quarter-finals.
Though there are 59 places between the two clubs on English football’s league ladder, it took Eberechi Eze’s stunning second-half shot to settle matters in the favour of Mikel Arteta’s team, who remain in the hunt for success on four fronts this season.
Arsenal made history by becoming the first Premier League team to start a senior match with two players aged 16 or under in any competition, with defender Marli Salmon and midfielder Max Dowman included.
Dowman should have scored after four minutes but Liam Roberts atoned for his error in gifting him the ball in the first place by making a save. In a frantic start, Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had to get down to deny Louis Reed after Rhys Oates had outmuscled Cristhian Mosquera. Roberts denied Dowman again on the half-hour.
Leandro Trossard limped off in the 38th minute but, three minutes later, Arsenal had the lead when Noni Madueke found the top corner from the edge of the box for their 100th goal of the season. Parity was restored five minutes into the second half when half-time substitute Will Evans pounced on a mix-up between Salmon and Mosquera and fired a shot beyond Arrizabalaga. Kyle Knoyle cleared Gabriel Jesus’ close-range shot off the line in the 62nd minute before Evans was foiled by Arrizabalaga at the other end.
It took Eze’s arrival from the bench to find the game’s third, and decisive, goal when he hammered home from the edge of the area, giving Roberts no chance. The Mansfield goalkeeper, who was outstanding throughout, denied another Arsenal substitute, Bukayo Saka, a third.
Of most concern to Arteta, with the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie away to Bayer Leverkusen of Germany to come on Wednesday, will be Trossard and defender Riccardo Calafiori limping off with injuries.
The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon analyses the key talking points.
How did 16-year-olds Dowman and Salmon do?
Never before in any competition had a Premier League club started a senior match with two players aged 16 or under in the initial line-up. But Arsenal changed that by selecting Dowman and Salmon — both 16 years old — to face Mansfield on Saturday.
Dowman, who was making his return after being sidelined since December with an ankle injury, made an immediate impact and was denied a goal by Roberts inside four minutes. And a minute later the midfielder, who is also the youngest-ever player to appear in the Champions League, breezed past the opposition and worked his way into the penalty area, eventually winning a corner.
Marli Salmon was handed a full Arsenal debut at age 16 (Jon Super/AFP via Getty Images)
It wasn’t all plain sailing, as both players also lost possession in needless situations during the early stages of the first half.
Dowman also had to contend with being fouled as a consequence of his ball-carrying abilities but kept getting back up without making any fuss and it was Salmon’s underhit pass, coupled with Mosquera’s indecision, that led to the equaliser after Evans, who had only been on the pitch four minutes, intercepted the ball and slotted it into the bottom corner.
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Will Evans levels it up against Arsenal after coming off the bench ⚽
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Dowman continued to take people on at will, sometimes overdoing it, while Salmon was replaced on the hour. Dowman came off for Saka in the 76th minute.
Arteta also gave 18-year-old Jaden Dixon, the former Tottenham Hotspur academy defender signed from Stoke City of the Championship at the end of the winter transfer window, his first-team Arsenal debut as a 76th-minute replacement for the injured Calafiori.
How hard did Arsenal have to work?
The common consensus was that the best team in England, possibly in Europe, were going to walk over Mansfield, currently 16th out of 24 in third-tier League One, and join Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
And, yes, Arteta’s side headed back to north London with the victory and their quadruple chances intact, but they were made to work seriously hard for it.
Mansfield dominated certain periods of the match, even registering 11 shots in the first half, but gave Arsenal an even bigger scare when half-time substitute Evans equalised shortly after joining the action.
His goal led to a 15-minute spell where it looked as though Nigel Clough’s team were going to cause an even bigger upset than when they knocked out top-flight strugglers Burnley 2-1 away in the previous round.
Max Dowman never shied away from the action (Jon Super/AFP via Getty Images)
The home crowd were raucous and Arsenal were anything but comfortable.
Mansfield, however, were unable to capitalise on any of their subsequent chances and the Premier League leaders were saved by that terrific finish from Eze in the 66th minute, four minutes after he’d replaced Kai Havertz.
The home side continued to threaten, but Arteta’s team held out and successfully avoided an embarrassing cup exit.
How Arsenal brought up a century of goals
Madueke’s goal, a left-footed strike into the top corner after receiving the ball from Gabriel Martinelli, was Arsenal’s 100th of the season.
They are the first Premier League side to reach three figures in all competitions in 2025-26 and, as detailed by Opta, became only the third team in Europe’s big five leagues (Italy, France, Spain, Germany and England) to reach the milestone. Bayern Munich (128) and Barcelona (110) are the other two to surpass a century of goals.
Noni Madueke celebrates the opening goal (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Madueke’s strike today means Arsenal have now passed 100 in three seasons running.
To highlight how effective they have been in terms of scoring this season, it took them until April 20 during the 2024-25 campaign to net their 100th goal.
Such is their prolificacy this season, they have achieved the feat in just 46 matches, making this the club’s best scoring campaign — on a goals per game basis — since 1952-53, and are on track to surpass their 113-goal record under Arteta, who has been in charge since December 2019.
Not including own goals, their 101 have been scored by 19 different players, with Viktor Gyokeres leading the way on 10.
Did the pitch play a part?
There had been plenty of discussion about the state of Mansfield’s pitch before the match, after concerns were raised following their 2-2 draw with AFC Wimbledon on it in a league fixture last Saturday. But Arteta was having none of that, saying “it’s the beauty of this competition” and calling on his players to adapt to their surroundings.
Even though the muddy surface was not remotely similar to anything Arsenal’s players will have become accustomed to performing on in the Premier League and Champions League, it did not have any kind of adverse impact on the tie.
The Mansfield pitch was patchy and bare in places (Art de Roche/The Athletic)
Yes, the ball may have bobbled a bit more than normal, but that was the same for both teams, and it wasn’t as if players for either side were slipping and sliding all over the place. Those unpredictable bounces made it harder for Arsenal and Mansfield to get the ball under control, but to say the issue had any meaningful impact on the performances would not be justified.
Although Arteta is yet to speak on the injury that led to Trossard being replaced late in the first half, he did note pre-match how the conditions could affect team selection “especially if there is a player that is carrying some injuries, the pitch can affect him in the wrong way, especially certain muscles”.
What did Arteta say?
“It was a great occasion. That game exemplifies the history of the FA Cup, the difficulty of it and the beauty of it. First of all, they made it really hard, so big credit to Nigel (Clough, the Mansfield manager), the team and the way they played.
“You have to adapt as well because of the pitch, the energy that the (Mansfield) supporters put in, which was extraordinary. The intensity, the banter, the interactions and the belief they put into their team. You really have to earn it. We had moments where it should have been two- or three-nil. When you don’t close the game, and they have hope and belief, that becomes more dangerous. After they equalised, we had to really dig in to earn the right to win.”
Asked how pleased he was with the performance of Dowman, Arteta said: “Very proud of him and Marli. Two 16-year-olds starting in the FA Cup says a lot about them, their personality and the quality that they have. Max was exceptional.
“I congratulated them because to make their (starting) debuts in the FA Cup, I think Max is the youngest ever in the competition. And this competition has been going for a while (since 1871), so it tells you how difficult that is. I am very proud of them. Jaden (Dixon) was the same with his debut. (Now they have to) continue to work. It’s just the first step for them and plenty more to come.”
What next for Arsenal?
Wednesday, March 11: Bayer Leverkusen (Away), Champions League round of 16 first leg, 5.45pm UK, 1.45pm ET
