What happened
Our under-23s claimed a point in what was a tightly-contested match against Chelsea on Saturday.
The hosts began with most of the possession, but once settled into the game, we gained more of a foothold, with Jordi Osei-Tutu working hard down the right wing for Steve Gatting's side and getting in a block in the 12th minute.
Martell Taylor-Crossdale scored for the hosts after Harvey St Clair combined with Joshua Grant down the left, but only minutes later Vlad Dragomir pulled one back after taking advantage of a loose ball.
Chelsea came close again, winning a corner cleared by Josh Dasilva before Jacob Maddox's long range attempt and a curling shot from St Clair forced saves from Deyan Iliev.
However, we reacted with a brilliant move by Osei-Tutu, Marcus McGuane and Dragomir, only to amount to end with a save by Jamie Cumming.
The away side continued to create pressure as Dragomir looked to find Chuba Akpom in the penalty box, before Eddie Nketiah and Osei-Tutu both had scuffed chances.
With the second half underway, Sterling converted following a save from Iliev to take the lead after Kylian Hazard set his sights on goal. Maddox came close again for the Blues with a curling shot, but fired it slightly wide to save our blushes.
Chelsea came close again through St Clair who had been prolific down the left wing, but a late leveller saw Joe Willock slot one home to equalise.
With five minutes added time, Akpom seized a chance on the counter deep into stoppage time as the ball fell to Marcus McGuane, but he was denied by Cumming's sharp reflex stop.
Some last minute drama was afforded by Sterling, who scored in the last kick of the game, only for the goal to be deemed offside.
Nketiah watch
After a performance which warranted him a place in the record books against Norwich City last Tuesday, Nketiah looked promising once again.
31 - Nketiah looks to combine with Chuba after he completed a positive run just minutes before
38 - Eddie makes another run into the Chelsea penalty box but gets blocked
63 - Nketiah holds the ball up well but is faced with multiple blue shirts around him, eventually leading him to take a rough shot over the bar
87 - Eddie leads a counter attack for our youngsters
What it means
We fall to fourth in the Premier League 2 table, after a win by West Ham over Manchester City puts them above us in the table by one point.
What's next
We are to face FC Porto at Meadow Park on November 17 in the Premier League International Cup.
FC Porto, hot of the back of their previous victory in the competition against Reading, will be looking to continue winning ways against Gatting's side.
Report by Tatiana Bellometti
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
