Our young Gunners were narrowly beaten by West Ham United on Saturday morning.
Despite taking the lead twice during an entertaining contest, the visitors struck from the spot in stoppage time to claim all three points.
WHAT HAPPENED
We couldn’t have asked for a better start. A mistake from West Ham goalkeeper Olanrewaju Awesu gifted us an early opportunity, and Bowen Phillips capitalised brilliantly, lobbing the ball home from 25 yards.
We nearly doubled our advantage soon after, when Louis Zecevic John slipped a pass through to Saurup Sampang, but his effort was well saved and pushed wide.
West Ham, however, drew level against the run of play. Lewis Beckford drove into the box and fired a shot that took a deflection off one of our defenders, wrong-footing Lupinski and finding the net.
Our response was immediate. Just minutes later, Sampang produced a moment of individual brilliance, weaving past three defenders before driving into the box and calmly slotting his shot into the bottom corner to restore our lead.
But the visitors struck again in first-half stoppage time. A loose pass allowed Connor Brooks to surge forward, and he eventually found Chuk Obi, who made no mistake from close range.
Shortly after the hour mark, West Ham took the lead for the first time. A long throw from Brooks caused problems in the box, and the ball ricocheted off Andre Dike’s hip and into the net.
We continued to push and were rewarded eight minutes from time. Zecevic John was brought down in the area, and the forward picked himself up to confidently convert the penalty. In the aftermath, Callum Leacock was shown a red card for dissent.
Deep into added time, West Ham were awarded a penalty of their own after Dike was fouled in the box, and he stepped up to convert, sealing a late victory for the visitors.
WHAT IT MEANS
The result leaves us on 28 points from 23 games.
WHAT’S NEXT
Our under-18s return to action on Tuesday, April 28, when we host Crystal Palace.
Kick-off at the Sobha Realty Training Centre is scheduled for 12pm (UK time).
TEAM NEWS
Arsenal XI: Lupinski, Sampang, Owusu-Gyasi (Purdy, 71), Mbala, Abubakar,, Murisa, Hashi, Nwaneri (Arteta, 62), Marciniak Zecevic John, Thompson (van der Straaten, 72), Phillips (Marciniak, 55).
Subs unused: Talbot
West Ham United XI: Awesu, Leacock, Brooks, Scanlon (Medine, 61), Smith, Morris-Agyemang, Longman (Thomas, 67), Dike, Balogun (Kerr, 61), Beckford (Omotoye, 83), Obi
Subs unused: Goodger
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