Our under-21s returned from the international break with a 2-1 defeat in the Premier League 2 against Chelsea on Saturday, October 25.
Jesse Derry found the only goal in a first half where chances came at both ends.
The home side added to their lead after half time through Walsh, before Marcell Washington got one back for our young Gunners, but it wasn't enough to take any points from the game.
What Happened
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Tommy Steford was called into action twice inside the first phases of the affair. Derry had first found space to weave into the box from the left flank and force our no.1 to tip over his upright, before Ato Ampah also enjoyed a vacant opposite wing and shot low to force Setford into his second stop.
The Blues almost found an opener after ten minutes through a move sparked by Genesis Antwi, who manoeuvred through the midfield to find Ampah out wide again. The winger did well to break free of his man and sent in a lofted cross, only for David Washington to direct his header over the bar.
The hosts thought they'd taken the lead when Antwi was allowed to run the length of the pitch from his defensive position, and pick out Washington, who put the ball in the back of the net and went to celebrate, only for the lineman to lift a delayed flag for offside.
Whilst protests amongst the Chelsea side ensued, our young Gunners sprang into life and caught their opponents on the counter-attack through Harrison Dudziak, who himself covered hard yards. He found Andre Harrison-Annous in a dangerous position, but 'keeper Max Merrick closed the angle to put an end to the attack.
The hosts took the lead just after the half-hour mark when captain Harrison McMahon operated through the middle of the park and picked out an unmarked Derry on the far left side and let loose at Setford, who had made a good initial parry, before the Chelsea man picked up the seconds to tap home.
We almost found an immediate response through Harriman-Annous, who himself went free of a defender, and looked sure to equalise once one-on-one with Merrick, but he couldn't curl his attempt far enough round the goalkeeper.
Walsh almost doubled the lead for the home side when his shot beat Setford at his far post, only to ricochet back off the woodwork for our no.1 to pounce on and allow the end-to-end play to settle for a brief moment.
Charles Sagoe Jr went on a superb solo run just before the interval, beating three players in blue to unleash a strike from the edge of the box, but struggled to keep his shot low as it sailed into the stands.
Chelsea found their second just after the break when Ampah broke free and darted to our byline, before he pulled his pass back across to Walsh at the centre of the box for the attacking midfielder to nestle his shot inside Setford's bottom left post with accuracy.
A Chelsea third was prevented by our goalkeeper moments later, who got down well to deny Derry of his second after he went close to completing Washington's unchallenged dribble.
Harriman-Annous came close to pulling one back for the young Gunners when he picked up Josiah King's saved effort, but failed to beat Merrick, who spread himself well, with the follow-up.
We did halve the deficit in the next attack, however, when substitute Osman Kamara, who had only just entered the fray, found a cross to Washington at the far post, and the fullback squeezed it narrowly past Merrick at his near post.
Max Porter's changes changed the momentum of the game back in our favour as Sagoe Jr danced his way into the opposition's box and fired a shot from close range, but Merrick made himself big to deny an equaliser.
As we headed into the last 20 minutes, the flow of the game made it look like an equaliser was almost certain, and Sagoe Jr almost made that happen when he cut inside and fired a deflected shot that wrong-footed the Chelsea shot-stopper, but the ball cleared the post by a matter of inches.
As we continued to pepper the Chelsea goal, if a goal were to be found, it would come from Kamara. The attacker came agonisingly close to levelling the tie five minutes from time, but he couldn't direct Harriman-Annous' cross goalward.
We had a free kick in a good position deep into stoppage time, which was sent long for Will Sweet to place a header, but he couldn't get enough purchase on his effort to get it onto target, which turned out to be the final action of the game.
What’s Next
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Our under-21s return to Vertu Trophy action as they look to capitalise on their strong start to the competition when they travel to Exeter City on Tuesday, October 28.
Kick-off at St James Park is at 7pm (UK time).
TEAM NEWS
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**Chelsea XI:** Merrick, Wilson, Murray-Campbell, Subuloye, Antwi, Harrison, Ampah, McMahon, Washington (Richards 67), Walsh (Rak-Sakyi 67), Derry (Barbour 83).
**Subs:** Curd, Richards.
**Arsenal XI:** Setford, Washington, Sweet, Clarke (Hamill 90+2), Nichols (Ferdiand 90+2), Ibrahim (Agustien 59), Dudziak, Copley, Sagoe Jr, Stevens (Kamara 59), Harriman-Annous.
**Subs:** Mitchell.
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