Arsenal under-21s head coach Mehmet Ali expressed his satisfaction and pride in his young side’s performance, as they secured a second consecutive win to start the season, with a 3-1 victory away at Wolves on Friday afternoon.
Nathan Butler-Oyedeji opened the scoring for us in the second half, followed by a goal from Ismeal Kabia to make it 2-0. Dani Angel pulled one back for the hosts, but Butler-Oyedeji completed his brace late on to secure all three points.
Mehmet said, "It was an exciting game to watch. I think both sides had some very good spells of play. Wolves fielded a fairly experienced side, with Nelson Semedo in the lineup and a couple of older players due to go out on loan.
“However, the togetherness our players showed today and the way we conducted ourselves over the 90 minutes was brilliant. There were times when we had to defend deeply and demonstrate our love for defending, which we did admirably.
“In possession, I thought some of our play was outstanding, so I’m really pleased and proud of how the players performed.”
Despite going into half-time with the score level at 0-0, Mehmet emphasised that his side always believed they would go on to win the game.
“The first half was a bit cagey. Jack Porter made a brilliant save, and we almost took the lead through Khayon. We knew we had to keep doing the basics well, and keep competing, and we just felt that given the pre-season, the players were in really good condition.
“There’s a real togetherness within the group, and we believed that if we stuck to our principles, we could come out as winners—and that’s exactly what we did today."
It was a special day for 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Porter, who was making his debut at under-21 level, and Mehmet was impressed with his performance.
“We give players opportunities when they’ve earned them and deserve them, and Jack has been doing really well with the under-18s.
“We have two very good goalkeepers within that group who have spent time with us in pre-season and have shown some real promise."
Looking ahead to next week, when they face Aston Villa at home, Mehmet acknowledged that it will be a difficult game but remains confident in his side’s ability to secure another win.
“We know we’re in for a tough game. They’ll be similar to us in terms of age, and last time we played them, we started well but conceded sloppy goals in transition.
“We need to ensure that doesn’t happen again. It’s another opportunity for the players to enhance their reputation and keep building on the strong start they’ve had."
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