Our under-18s continued their fine form in front of goal in their 4 - 3 win over Leicester City at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Saturday.
Ceadach O’Neill scored the only goal of the first half, finishing off an excellent counter-attack, before Daniel Oyetunde doubled our lead five minutes after the break.
Brando Bailey-Joseph made it three midway through the second half, getting a goal his excellent performance deserved.
Leicester pulled a goal back through Will Daniels, but Bailey-Joseph netted his second of the afternoon shortly after to put us back in control.
Despite stoppage time goals from Lorenz Hutchinson and Will Daniels, we held on for the win in North London.
What happened
Both sides started the game brightly, with Bless Akolbire and Dan Casey both coming close in the opening ten minutes.
Our opening goal came from a precise counter attack, finished off neatly by Ceadach O’Neill who slotted his effort into the bottom corner.
We continued to pile on the pressure, with Daniel Oyetunde forcing a good save from Jake Donohue before O’Neill headed just over the bar.
Leicester grew into the game as the first half progressed; Lorenz Hutchinson and Kaleb Dyke both forced saves from Jack Porter midway through the half.
Despite a good spell for the Foxes, we almost doubled our lead two minutes before half-time when Dan Casey’s effort was tipped over the bar by Donohue.
We carried the momentum into the second half and doubled our lead just five minutes after the break. Brando Bailey-Joseph picked out Daniel Oyetunde and the striker made no mistake from close range.
Bailey-Joseph got a goal for himself 13 minutes later, cutting inside from the corner of the box and firing his effort into the top left corner.
Leicester struck back through Will Daniels with 18 minutes to go, but just six minutes after we conceded, Bailey-Joseph fired in his second to restore our three-goal advantage.
The Foxes pushed right until the final whistle and scored twice in stoppage time through Lorenz Hutchinson and Will Daniels, but we held on for three big points at Sobha Realty Training Centre.
What It Means
Victory moves us up to seventh in the U18 Premier League South with 25 points from 16 games; five of the six teams above us have played more games than ourselves.
What’s Next
Several of our under-18s will represent their national teams over the next ten days at various youth levels.
Adam Birchall’s side face Aston Villa away from home in their first game after the international break. The match will take place at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath Training Ground on Saturday, March 29 with kick-off at 12pm (UK time).
Line-Ups
Arsenal XI: Porter, Clarke, Onyekachukwu, Chapman, Ogunnaike, Murisa, Ibrahim, Casey (Trialist 2, 84), Bailey-Joseph, O’Neill, Oyetunde (Marciniak, 72)
Subs (not used): Ismail, Ranson, Trialist 1
Leicester XI: Donohue, Toko (Sutherington, 70) Adedeji, Gray, Diallo (Khela, 60), Owusu (Anugo, 70), Dyke, Daniels, Akolbire, Hutchinson, Aideed (Motsi, 70)
Subs (not used): McNab
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