Our young Gunners secured qualification to the Premier League 2 knockout rounds with a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Demiane Agustien found the only goal in the game at Mangata Developments Stadium, with his first-half strike enough to see us progress into the last-16.
What Happened
We emerged from the tunnel like a team determined to complete the job, with Callan Hamill looking to spark a threat from fullback down the right flank.
And it was the Scotland under-19s international who assisted Agustien in breaking the deadlock, with a clever through ball to run in behind on and beat Ben Cisse at his near post.
Khari Ranson made sure we were ahead at the break with a superb quick reaction save to deny Jack Bray in the air, palming the goalbound header to safety.
On the hour mark, last-ditch defending was required from Josh Ogunnaike and then Brayden Clarke, who cleared substitute Harry French’s strike off the line with a desperate diving header.
Agustien came close to netting again after Evan Mooney had turned his man to find our playmaker in space, but he couldn’t keep his curling shot low enough and saw it marginally clear Cisse’s upright.
Ranson was called upon once more in the closing stages of the affair, this time dropping his body in front of Charlie Blackshields’ free hit from the edge of our box.
As the clock ticked beyond the 90, further defensive duties were needed to see out what finished as a big result for our under-21s, as we look ahead to the knockout stages.
What’s Next
With qualification in the bag, our under-21s will wrap up their PL2 league phase with a trip to Crystal Palace on Monday, April 13.
Kick-off at the Borough Sports Ground is at 6pm (UK time).
TEAM NEWS
Arsenal XI: Ranson, Hamill, Washington, Clarke, Ogunnaike, Ibrahim, Ferdinand, Julienne (Hashi 45), Mooney, Agustien, Bailey-Joseph (Zecevic John 58).
Subs unused: Porter, Owusu-Gyasi, Marciniak.
West Brom XI: Cisse, Maughan, Letlat (Nelson 64), Iddrisa, Dupont, Shaw, Bray (Ntege 65), Blackshields, Francis-Caesar (Abudu 86), Crowther, Colesby (French 45).
Subs unused: Moses.
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