Arsenal fight back to keep the Wolves at bay
As the old saying goes, football is a game of two halves and
the old adage certainly rang true at Underhill, where Arsenal u21s faced off against
Wolves U21s in a league encounter.
The first half was
shockingly poor with the game bereft of all quality, despite the willingness of
both sets of players to play the game properly, with plenty of running from
both squads.
Most of the first half was played in the air, with Wolves
young striker Anthony Forde particularly impressing, but both defences came out
on top following the early exchanges.
With the crowd resorting to cheering offside decisions,
something definitely needed to be done during the interval, but both managers
would have probably been happy that they hadn’t conceded any undeserved goals.
The game roared into life immediately after the restart,
with Jake Cassidy opening the scoring for Wolves to take the lead with less
than a minute gone.
Arsenal’s heads didn’t drop and they managed to get the equaliser
they so desperately craved in the 54th minute with a tap in from
Chuba Akpom, after some good work by Sanchez Watt on the byline to get the
cross away.
It was evident the next goal would be crucial, as both teams
battled for ascendency in the tie, but it was good to see more urgency in both
sets of teams play, especially when juxtaposed with the turgid affair the first
half had been.
With the home crowd stirring to the battle unfolding in
front of them, the young Gunners were able to push on and were rewarded a
couple of minutes from time when Hector Bellerin stormed into the area and
fired emphatically into the roof of the net.
The goal must have been a sucker-punch for the young Wolves,
who had led or been on even terms for most of the game and they had no time to
mount a comeback of their own.
Arsenal had come from behind to take the game at the death.
While some may say Wolves deserved something from the game, sometimes you just
have to take your chances and the Gunners mental stability was impressive to
behold.
With players like the impressive Akpom, Craig Eastmond and
Serge Gnabry earmarked for the first team, the next stage of Arsenals production
line of young players must be heartening for the fans and games like these give
young players great experience.
Report by – James Milin-Ashmore
MOM - Sanchez Watt
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