Arsenal corner flag
Arsenal corner flag
Academy weekends rarely move as one. One age group can put four past a home side before the interval while another draws a blank against a goalkeeper who will not be beaten.
Those contrasts are part of the job. The same club can look clinical at 18 and wasteful at 21, then swap those labels the following Saturday.
October fixtures already sit on the calendar for both. The international break gives the senior side three weeks off. The youth teams still have to wait for their next league or cup date.
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Arsenal’s under-18s made it three U18 Premier League South wins in a row with a 5-1 victory at Norwich City. The under-21s were held 0-0 by Birmingham City in PL2 on Friday despite creating the clearer chances.
Tyrese Warmington denied Andre Harriman-Annous and Josh Ogunnaike at the Knighthead Training and Academy Grounds. It was Arsenal’s third draw in four PL2 matches and leaves them on three points. They next face Sunderland on Saturday 10 October, kick-off 1pm.
The under-18s were far sharper a day later. Axel Donczew scored inside 15 minutes. Jaden Maghoma added two and Charlie Purdy another before half-time, Donczew’s cut-back setting up the fourth.
Maghoma’s first followed work from Emerson Nwaneri. Teshaun Murisa laid on the second. Norwich pulled one back with an own goal after the break before Nwaneri finished the 5-1 in injury time.
The result lifted Josh Smith’s side to fifth, with 10 points from six games. They host Birmingham in the U18 Premier League Cup on 10 October at midday.
Smith was pleased with the first half and less so with the second. “Very impressed with the first half, to score so early again,” he said.
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“We have been speaking recently in terms of: once we do score first, can we go again and get the second and the third? I think that performance has been coming. I was very impressed with the first half.
“The lads and the staff feel a little bit disappointed in terms of the second half. They feel like we could have scored a little bit more. They’re young and we’re trying to aim for consistency, but overall I’m very pleased.
“We give the lads a base structure. A lot of the stuff that we’re starting to see is just based around simple concepts.
“Whether that’s off the right unit, the left, sometimes down the centre. We try and keep it as fluid as possible for them. So, yes, it’s been very pleasing seeing that.
“For us as staff and players, it’s about sticking to the process.
“As I said, there’s going to be ups and downs. Some weeks we’re going to win and some we’re going to lose.
“But in terms of how we’ve been training and how we’ve been behaving, that’s the most important thing for us there. Being consistent and sticking to the process.”
Nwaneri’s late goal capped another productive afternoon at under-18 level. The 21s will want a first win of the mini-run when Sunderland arrive in October.
Emirates stadium crowd for Arsenal vs Liverpool game
Emirates stadium crowd for Arsenal vs Liverpool game
Mikel Arteta - Arsenal
Mikel Arteta - Arsenal