Nketiah is on target in 15 seconds
ROOKIE Eddie Nketiah was Arsenal’s saviour with a dramatic intervention against Norwich.
Nketiah scored within 15 seconds of his arrival as a substitute, tapping home with his first touch to finally break down Norwich.
A shadow Arsenal side had looked to be heading out after Josh Murphy’s first-half strike. And Norwich blew a host of chances before 18-year-old striker Nketiah marked his home debut with an 85th-minute leveller.
The tie took time to get going with Alex Iwobi having the first sight of goal but his 25-yard shot failed to dip underneath Angus Gunn’s crossbar.
In 2013 Jack Wilshere scored one of the all-time great team goals in the Premier League era against Norwich. Now against the same opposition,
ARSENAL NORWICH
SCORE AFTER 90 MINS East Anglian derby win, found time to slide Murphy through a gaping hole in the Arsenal defence and the winger did the rest with a clever chip beyond Macey.
It nearly got worse for Arsenal when Oliveira’s low shot was pushed out by Macey in the 40th minute.
Arsenal stepped it up after the break and Wilshere’s handball claims against Ivo Pinto were rightly ignored.
Arsenal’s high defensive line was almost exposed again with Mohamed Elneny fortunate to escape with just a yellow card after hauling down Oliveira as the Portuguese striker bore down on goal in the 55th minute. It coincided with Norwich’s best spell of the evening, Murphy sending a header straight at Macey before the young goalkeeper had to be alert to cut out a dangerous cross from Maddison.
And it was Norwich who actually looked the more likely to win it. Murphy missed a golden chance to wrap up the tie in the 72nd minute as he chipped over the bar with Macey in no man’s land. Vrancic also missed a good chance and it came back to haunt Norwich thanks to Nketiah.
ARSENAL (3-4-3):