Charlie Patino marked his Arsenal debut with an injury-time goal against Sunderland (Image: Getty)
Arsenal’s new teenage sensation Charlie Patino enjoyed a memorable debut against Sunderland, culminating his brief appearance as a substitute with an injury-time goal that sealed his team’s place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
The excitement surrounding the 18-year-old has steadily intensified this season following a series of impressive displays for the reserves, while he has appeared regularly in first team practice.
Arsenal’s lack of skill Participation in Europe has meant the talented midfielder has been forced to wait patiently for his senior category debut, but the moment came last night with the Gunners sailing to victory over League One Sunderland.
What a night for 18-year-old Charlie Patiño, scoring on his debut 🠑pic.twitter.com/lph4cpgpCX
– Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 21, 2021
Patiño got something of a rude awakening when he was sent fell to the ground almost immediately from a reckless challenge from Callum Doyle, but he had the last laugh when he walked in unmarked to slide Nicolas Pepe’s pass home with practically the last act of the game. .
The goal was the culmination of seven years of corruption after he had signed terms with Arsenal when he was 11 years old, and the north London club was forced to pay Luton £ 10,000 in compensation.
Charlie Patino is the latest talent to roll off the Hale End Academy production line (Image: Getty)
According to The Guardian at the time, Patiño had caught the attention of Spurs and Chelsea, as well as Manchester City. But the proximity of his St Albans home to Arsenal’s training ground proved to be the deciding factor in his decision to advance his development at Hale End Academy.
Speaking after last night’s 5-1 beating, Arteta called for caution and insisted that it was her job to protect the young man in an attempt to help him realize his abundant potential.
“It was a beautiful moment,” he said. “He is a child who comes through our system, a lovely child. He is training with us almost every week.
‘It was a dream. Like a debut to come here, to score in front of our fans, a really special moment.
‘We have to avoid (the hype). He still has a lot of competition ahead of him. It’s very young. And you need to go step by step. Today he was lucky, he had the opportunity and he took advantage of it very well «.
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