Our young Gunners were defeated 5-1 by Leicester City in the Premier League 2 on Friday.
In the difficult game at Mangata Developments Stadium, Evan Mooney reduced the deficit before the break, after Kirsten Otchere and a Logan Briggs brace had put the Foxes three up.
City restored their lead through Riley Carr after the hour mark, before Amani Richards finished late on to seal our defeat.
What Happened
We started on the back foot and were punished after 10 minutes, when Otchere pounced on a loose pass and saw his strike take a killer deflection that Jack Porter could do nothing about.
We were down again when Ryan Donnelly picked the pocket of Andre Harriman-Annous and found Briggs arriving in the box, who hit it first time to extend the visitors’ lead.
Our first attempt came after the half-hour mark, when Jadon Dixon’s cross was cleared but only into the path of Josh Ogunnaike, who had time to shoot but could only direct his shot wide.
The East Midlands outfit made it three when Lorenz Hutchinson shook off Marli Salmon and found Briggs on the overlap. The attacking midfielder shot across Porter’s goal and buried it inside the far post.
We found a lifeline on the stroke of half-time through Mooney, who made use of an advantage given whilst Jamie Dixon was down injured. Harriman-Annous picked out our January signing, who beat Freddie Marson from a tight angle to pull one back.
After the interval, we looked hungry to amend the earlier errors, going close twice through Mooney and then Theo Julienne, as it felt momentum had begun to swing our way.
We were stunned by a screamer, however, from Carr, who unleashed a curling effort from distance and saw the ball sail into our top right corner.
An open last half an hour ensued as we chased a way back into the tie, but it was Leicester who benefited, when substitute Richards picked up on Porter’s high clearance and swept home to cap off a difficult night for our young Gunners.
What’s Next
Our under-21s continue their Premier League 2 campaign with a trip to Sunderland on Monday, March 23.
Kick-off at Eppleton Colliery Football Ground is at 7pm (UK time).
TEAM NEWS
Arsenal XI: Porter, Dixon (Ferdinand 45+2), Ogunnaike (Washington 60), Salmon, Clarke, Ibrahim, Bailey-Joseph (Stevens 60), Julienne (Agustien 69), Mooney, O’Neill, Harriman-Annous.
Subs unused: Mitchell.
Leicester City XI: Marson, Donnelly (Onanaye 81), Ali, Gray (Amartey 61), Toko, Neale, Carr (Richards 68), Page, Otchere, Briggs, Hutchinson (Motsi 81).
Subs unused: Donohue.
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