Everton teenager repeats Wayne Rooney feat with historic Arsenal goal

The celebration said it all.

As Everton midfielder Issy Hobson slid across the Walton Hall Park turf, one hand clasped over the badge on her chest, it was clear that this was a moment destined to go down in Women's Super League (WSL) folklore. The teenager had just scored a 95th-minute equaliser against Arsenal, earning the Blues their first point against the Gunners in more than a decade.

More extraordinary than that, though, was the fact that - at just 16 years and 180 days old - Hobson had become the youngest goalscorer in WSL history. "I've been at Everton for my whole life so it's even more special," she told BBC Sport after her stoppage-time header had cancelled out Alessia Russo's earlier strike.

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"It's something I've been dreaming of since I started playing football and for it to contribute to getting a draw against Arsenal is the best feeling ever." Certainly, in what has largely been a torrid season for Brian Sorensen's side, this goal was a shining light - inspiring hope of better times ahead and offering a poignant, powerful reminder of what it is all about.

The point does not mean a lot in terms of its significance to the WSL table and yet it means everything. There are few things in sport more capable of eliciting pure, unbridled joy than an academy graduate getting on the scoresheet for the first time.

And, for the football romantics on Merseyside, Hobson's breakthrough moment will have been evocative of another memorable Everton goal. It was in October 2002 that a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney came off the bench to score a 90th-minute winner against Arsenal at Goodison Park.

"It's a special goal and a special talent," legendary Gunners boss Arsene Wenger eulogised after the game. "The biggest English talent I've seen since I've been in England, by far."

It was a prophetic statement from the Frenchman, with Rooney going on to become one of the most decorated players in English football history, making more than 800 career appearances and scoring a staggering 366 goals for club and country.

Of course, it would be unfair to burden Hobson with that weight of expectation. She is younger than even Rooney was when he exploded onto the scene and is yet to sit her GCSEs.

But, a month on from making her WSL debut against Manchester City, the teenager certainly looks like she has a very bright future ahead of her. And, for manager Sorensen, Hobson's goal brought with it a sense of vindication.

The Dane has relied on his young players to drag Everton to safety this term - an inclination that has, at least in part, been born out of necessity, with the Blues having seen their squad decimated by injury in recent months.

That 22-year-old Eleanor Dale, who has played just 27 WSL minutes since joining the club in January, was the most experienced player on the Everton bench on Sunday afternoon is proof enough of the paucity of senior players Sorensen currently has at his disposal. Arsenal, by contrast, had the league's all-time top goalscorer, Vivianne Miedema, amongst their substitutes; a stark illustration of the enormous financial disparity that exists between the top four and the rest of the division.

It's little wonder, then, that this - Everton's first point against the Gunners in 17 WSL matches - was celebrated like a win. And the pandemonium after Hobson's goal was such that Sorensen did not realise until after the final whistle that it was one of his young charges who had made herself the hero.

"It was the TV producer who said it to me so I became extra happy," the Blues boss told club media at full-time. "I'm so glad for her. I went straight in so I could watch (the goal) back on video. When I saw the ball go in, I had turned around to celebrate. I didn't see Issy knee-sliding! But I went back and watched the video. What a goal."

What a goal, indeed. It is only the 18th Everton have scored in the WSL this season, with no other team having found the back of the net less frequently than the Blues.

"I felt we deserved it," Sorensen said. "The girls did absolutely amazingly. We stuck to our plan and we tried to play...all of that paid off. I think it was fair we got a point. The girls really deserved that after this season but also after this week.

"I just said to the players, I hope we can get a bit more consistency because there is so much in this team and I think we showcased that today. If we can find that energy and grind and hard work and belief, we can do something."

Certainly, it feels like, after spending much of the campaign wading through choppy waters, Everton have finally been able to come up for air in recent weeks. A crucial win away to fellow strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion followed by a hard-fought point against third-place Arsenal has not only guaranteed their WSL survival this term but has also stirred up some optimism ahead of next season.

With Sorensen having recently penned a two-year contract extension at Walton Hall Park, it feels like the foundations are in place for the club to build towards a brighter future. Sunday's point feels, in many ways, like a meritorious reward for all of the adversity the Blues have navigated over the past seven months but this must only be the start if they truly harbour aspirations of climbing the league table.

Whatever happens next, though, it seems as if Everton have found themselves a new young superstar to get excited about. Remember the name: Issy Hobson.