We ended our UEFA Youth League campaign with a last-gasp 2-1 defeat against Club Brugge in Belgium.
Demiane Agustien opened the scoring with a composed finish in the seventh minute before midfielder Mishel Nduka was shown a straight red card in the 32nd minute.
Wout Verlinden was then shown a second yellow for the hosts before Yanis Musuayi deflected in an equaliser and Jakke Van Britsom headed home with the final touch of the match to give Brugge all three points.
what happened
Club Brugge came into the contest with four wins from five Youth League matches and started on the front foot when Tian Koren drifted into the box, but his cut back was well cleared by captain Brayden Clarke.
But we established ourselves and got the opening goal through Agustien on seven minutes. An inch-perfect pass from Josh Ogunnaike found the Dutch midfielder, who was able to poke the ball past the defender before coolly slotting it into the net to open the scoring.
The hosts looked to respond quickly as Tobias Jensen jinked his way into the box, forcing a low save from Jack Porter. Jensen then fed Naim Amengai after dispossessing Agustien, but found Clarke, who did brilliantly to block the goal-bound effort from close range.
We were then reduced to 10 men just after the half-hour mark as Mishel Nduka's challenge from behind on defender Axl Wins saw Portuguese referee Joao Goncalves produce a straight red card.
Brugge looked to make their player advantage count and almost had an equaliser before the break when captain Laurens Goemaere found time and space on the edge of the box, but could only shoot over.
Goemaere then went even closer when he met Amengai's corner and glanced his header onto the post and we were able to clear our lines.
The hosts came flying out of the blocks in the second half and almost had an equaliser, but for a sensational stop from Porter. Musuayi did superbly down the left and cut the ball back to Amengai, who was denied by a fine reflex save from our England under-17 international.
Moments later, Porter was called into action again when Jensen was played through, placing his effort straight at our goalkeeper.
Coach David Horseman made changes to preserve our lead, bringing on defender Samuel Onyekachukwu, who made a vital intervention, blocking Musuayi's shot after he found space inside the box.
We continued to defend our goal resolutely and with 13 minutes to go, Club Brugge were also reduced to 10 players as Wout Verlinden was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Harrison Dudziak.
With both sides a player light, the game became stretched in the final 10 minutes and Brugge found their leveller. Good play down the right saw Mohamed Elbay find Musuayi and he nudged the ball beyond Porter to level the scores.
Brugge sensed a winner and found it with the final attack of the game as Utku Kurtal crossed for Van Britsom and the forward stooped low to head into the net and give Brugge all three points.
what it means
We couldn't qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament going into the match and ended the competition on three points. As for Brugge, they finish the league phase with five wins from six and advance to the knockout phase of the tournament.
line-ups
Club Brugge XI: Vanden Driessche, Vandeperre, Elbay, Verlinden, Wins, Goemaere, Okon-Engstler, Amengai (Kurtal 69), Koren, Musuayi, Jensen (Van Bristom 69)
Subs not used: Ostoici, McDonnell, Braspenning, Marloye, Da Silva, Bisiwu, Bouazzaoui
Arsenal XI: Porter, Ogunnaike, Clarke, Pedro, Hamill (Owusu-Gyasi 91), Dudziak, Nduka, Agustien (Bonaventure Yetna 91), Bailey-Joseph (Maghoma 78), Thompson (Onyekachukwu 59), Zecevic-John (Julienne 59)
Subs not used: Talbot, Phillips, Marciniak, Murisa, Munoz
what next
With the UEFA Youth League drawing to a close, players who are in our under-18s can focus their attentions on domestic football and the FA Youth Cup. We take on Mansfield Town in the third round of the competition, our final youth fixture of 2025.
Those who are joining back up with the under-21s won't be in action until January 9 against West Bromwich Albion.
[Read more
Date for Mansfield Youth Cup tie confirmed](https://www.arsenal.com/tickets/under-18/2025-Dec-15/mansfield-town-u18s?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
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