Our under-18s found a stoppage-time winner away to Aston Villa in the U18 Premier League South on Saturday.
Louis Zecevic John converted the penalty he won to open the scoring from 12 yards at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground.
Vincely Mudame was sent off for the West Midlands side after the interval, but the extra player could not prevent Joshua Blake from finding a response late on.
We pushed on for a winner and were rewarded with our efforts when Angelino Pedro was in the right place to net with seconds to spare.
What happened
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Our first chance of the affair was carved out by Charlie Purdy, who sent a cross into the box from the left-hand side for Marley Frohock to meet in the air, but our striker glanced his header wide of the post.
We took the lead soon after when Zecevic John was brought down in the Villa area and made no mistake from the spot to put us ahead inside 20 minutes.
The home side began to build momentum before the half was out, and it required a goalline block from Abraham Owusu-Gyasi to deny Harry Pinnell from close range, before Jahmi Kellyman blazed over the rebound to keep our lead intact.
The Villans were reduced to ten shortly after the break as Mudame saw red for a last-man foul on Zecevic John. Teshaun Murisa came close to doubling our lead from the resulting free-kick, which was initially blocked before firing marginally over from 25 yards out.
We began to dictate the tempo with the numerical advantage, and it was Owusu-Gyasi who threatened next, his goalbound header ultimately hacked clear to safety.
Against the run of play, the home side launched a long clearance upfield, which Joshua Blake latched onto. Unchallenged, the forward drove through on Jack Talbot and slotted past our goalkeeper to level the tie with 15 minutes to go.
In search of a winner, Kyran Thompson shrugged off his defender to create space in the box and pulled the trigger, but his effort deflected off Rhys Oakley and sailed over.
Deep into the stoppage, Thompson whipped in a corner that bounced off the post and into a scramble of players, but Pedro was on hand to tap home and seal all three points for our young Gunners.
What’s next
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Our under-18s will continue their U18 Premier League South campaign when they host Norwich City on Saturday, February 28.
Kick-off at Sobha Reality Training Centre is scheduled for 12pm (UK time).
LINE Ups
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**Aston Villa XI:** Oakley, Atkins (Iyeli 86), Pinnell, Mudame, Ketebu, Moss, Hayward, Melhuish, Hammond, Kellyman (Adediran 86), Blake (Mitchell 76).
**Subs not used:** Houston, Rufus.
**Arsenal XI:** Talbot, Mbala (Tahou 65), Chapman, Pedro, Owusu-Gyasi, Murisa, Sampang, Purdy (Hashi 59), Zecevic John, Thompson, Frohock (Abubakar 65).
**Subs not used:** Phillips, Odaji-Ukueku.
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