Max Dowman doubles up for Arsenal’s back-ups to beat Ipswich in Carabao Cup

The bad news for everyone else is that Arsenal’s next generation is already here. Two mesmerising goals and an assist in a man-of-the-match display from Max Dowman underlined why the 16-year-old has been compared to a certain Lionel Messi by his manager, Mikel Arteta, as Ipswich were swatted aside with ease.

Almost as impressive was the performance of the 17-year-old Marli Salmon, who oozed class in central defence on only the second senior start of his career. Ipswich won here the last time these two sides met in this competition , in 2011, but were beaten 3-0 in the second leg of the semi-final at the Emirates before Arsenal infam­ously lost to Birmingham in the final. ­Fifteen years on, Gary O’Neil’s heavily rotated side stood no chance against last year’s runners up after Dowman’s brilliant opening goal. Noni…