The Arsenal statistic that proves they are anything but boring after Mansfield win

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After marking his eighth goal of the season with his standard celebration, Eberechi Eze came in for a bit of stick from the Mansfield locals. And he responded by making a heart shape with his fingers and thumbs.

It was fitting. You could not have too much love for Eze’s magnificent match-winning finish. You could not have too much love for the heart shown by Nigel Clough’s side.

It is a bit of an FA Cup cliche but the fact Eze was called upon by Mikel Arteta was a compliment to the League One team. But as close as this contest was, it was another demonstration of Arsenal’s strength in depth and their strength throughout the age range.

Against the Stags, Arteta sent out the young bucks and on a surface where grass was at a premium, this was probably not a challenge with which Max Dowman and Marli Salmon were overly familiar.

On occasions, it showed. A pimpled League One pitch is no place for drag-backs and flicks, as Dowman and Salmon soon discovered. But before Salmon made an error ahead of Will Evans’ second half equaliser, the pair were excellent.

It was certainly a bold move from Arteta to field two 16-year-olds, the first time a Premier League manager has done that in any competition.

And the boldness should have been rewarded in the early stages when Dowman accepted a loose offering from Mansfield keeper Liam Roberts but failed to convert very decent opportunity.

That he was so hard on himself for not capitalising on Roberts’ mistake told you a fair bit about this boy’s standards. That Dowman is extra special is an open secret and once he became accustomed to the environment and the opposition’s approach, he showed it.

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And as you would expect of prodigies reared in Arsenal’s academy, Dowman and Salmon have a physical resilience that belies their years.

Late in the first half, Salmon was left one-on-one with the muscular Rhys Oates, a 31-year-veteran of nine EFL clubs. And the defender born in 2009 was too strong for his opponent.

Across Arsenal’s backline, that was not always the case and Oates, in particular, caused a lot of problems before Noni Madueke’s left foot put the Premier League side ahead.

But even Arsenal reserves have a relentless streak running through them. The debate about their style, their attractiveness, their panache - or lack of - can go on and on but the simple fact is that this is a squad that rarely loses football matches.

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That is 46 games this season, 35 wins, eight draws and three losses, all three defeats coming via a late goal. And when Madueke beat Roberts with a firmly-hit curling effort after good work from Gabriel Martinelli, it was Arsenal’s 100th goal in all competitions this season.

And those goals have been scored by 19 different players. Last season, the Gunners reached the 100-goal landmark on April 20.

So much for them being boring and largely reliant on set-pieces.

They were certainly more open than usual. In the first 45 minutes, they faced 11 shots - the most they have faced in any half of football this season. And that is why it was no surprise when Evans fired Mansfield level early in the second half.

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An under-struck pass from Salmon was the root of the problem for Arsenal but Cristhian Mosquera was not decisive enough in dealing with Evans and the Stags substitute stormed forward and finished with conviction.

Dowman was the first to put an arm around Salmon and then immediately tried to ease his fellow youngster’s pain by slaloming through the home defence, only for Roberts to produce a fine save.

It was one of many excellent stops from Roberts but the hit from Eze did not give the keeper time to even flinch.

It was true international quality, and as much as Mansfield continued to show heart, it was enough to keep Arsenal firing on all fronts.

Boring? Not one bit.

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