Our Under-18s secured their place in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup with an impressive 4–1 victory away at Mansfield Town.
Goals from Callan Hamill, Maalik Hashi, Louis Zecevic-John and Brando Bailey-Joseph capped a dominant display and ensured comfortable progression in the competition.
What happened
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We couldn’t have asked for a better start and took the lead early on when Hamill finished off a well-worked corner routine, cleverly flicking the ball in at the near post.
Our advantage was doubled soon after when Zecevic-John was brought down inside the penalty area. Hashi stepped up and calmly dispatched the resulting spot-kick into the bottom left corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.
Mansfield enjoyed spells of possession and threatened in a few promising areas, but Jack Porter was rarely troubled as our defence stood firm.
We extended our lead on the hour mark following the restart. A deflected clearance fell kindly to Zecevic-John inside the box and he reacted quickest, finishing decisively to put us firmly in control.
The hosts pulled a goal back when Mace Oldershaw converted from close range, but any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished. Almost immediately, we worked the ball neatly out to Bailey-Joseph, who made no mistake from inside the area to restore our three-goal cushion and seal a convincing win.
What it means
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The victory sends us through to the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup, where we will face an away tie against Manchester City.
What’s next
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This fixture marked our final match of 2025. We return to under-18s Premier League action in the new year, hosting Leicester City on Saturday, January 10.
Kick-off at Sobha Realty Training Centre is scheduled for 11.30am (UK time).
LINE Ups
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**Mansfield Town:** Shore, Cheetham, Stubbs, Oldershaw, Hassall, Mott, Chambers-Morgan, Grimes, Spink, Walters, Murray
**Subs not used:** Woolf, Peets, Hewitt, Cappin, Grant, Nicholls, Scott
**Arsenal XI:** Porter, Hamill, Chapman, Onyekachukwu, Ogunnaike, Murisa, Julienne, Hashi (Marciniak, 71), Bailey-Joseph (Phillips, 90), Zecevic-John (Thompson, 65), O’Neill
**Subs not used:** Ranson, Pedro, Owusu-Gyasi, Stachow
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