Our under-21s played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the VBS Community Stadium on Monday night.
After Zach Marsh put the hosts ahead, we responded with two quickfire second-half goals from Michal Rosiak and Salah-Eddine Oulad M’hand. However, Hindolo Mustapha’s strike ensured both sides shared the points.
What Happened
Palace started strongly and nearly took the lead early on when a half-cleared corner fell to Dylan Reid, who fired a low shot towards goal. Josh Nichols reacted brilliantly to block it on the line.
The hosts kept pressing, and Lucas Nygaard was called into action to deny Mustapha from a tight angle. The rebound almost fell to Marsh, but Nygaard reacted quickly to smother the ball.
Our first real chance came from a Salah corner, which created chaos in the box. As Khayon Edwards looked to pounce on the loose ball, Palace goalkeeper Louie Moulden got there first to clear the danger.
Palace eventually broke the deadlock when Mustapha drove into the box and set up Matheus França, whose powerful shot across goal was turned in from close range by Marsh.
We had a great opportunity to equalise before half-time when Jimi Gower and Nichols combined well down the left to tee up Osman Kamara, who laid it off for Salah, but he fired over from 15 yards out.
After the restart, we started brightly and soon found ourselves level. Salah’s deflected shot was spilled by Moulden, allowing Rosiak to slot home past the defender on the line.
Just minutes later, Salah put us in front with a superb curling free-kick—his second set-piece goal in as many games. However, our lead was short-lived, as Mustapha responded almost immediately with a stunning strike into the corner to restore parity.
What It Means
The draw takes us to 28 points from 16 games in the league.
What’s Next?
Our young Gunners have an 11-day break before travelling to Merseyside to face Everton on Friday, March 14.
Kick-off at Haig Avenue is at 7pm (UK)
Line-Ups
Arsenal XI: Nygaard, Rosiak, Onyekachukwu, Clarke (Washington, 84) Nichols, Henry-Francis, Gower, Salah, Ferdinand, Kamara, Edwards
Subs (not used): Ranson, Ismail, Casey, Oulad M'Hand
Crystal Palace XI: Moulden, Kporha (Gibbard, 63), King, Grante, Browne, Reid, Umeh (Cardines, 46), Austin (Rodney, 63), Marsh (Derry, 88) Mustapha, França (Ola-Adebomi, 63)
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