Arsenal’s unbeaten run in the UEFA Youth League came to an end on Tuesday as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb at Meadow Lane.
Goals from Josip Brekalo and Amer Gojak after half-time put the Croatian side in control of the game and despite a goal back from Stephy Mavididi, Arsenal could not find the equaliser.
In a closely contested first half, either side could have gone in front. First, Gojak failed to keep his effort down from Brekalo’s cutback to give Arsenal an early warning. The Gunners responded, and could have scored when Donyell Malen was played through on goal but shot wide.
Another chance came when Alex Iwobi was denied by a smart save from goalkeeper Adrian Semper, before Gojak was denied by Semper’s opposite number in the Arsenal goal, Hugo Keto. The Finn made several excellent saves in Munich as Arsenal claimed a point and could well be close to taking over the regular under-18 jersey from Ryan Huddart.
Dinamo took the lead in the 54th minute when Brekalo broke down the left-hand side past Aaron Eyoma, made some space against Stefan O’Connor and applied a composed finish past Keto. 15 minutes later, the Croatian side had a second as a cross was played in – again from the left-hand side – and ran right through the Arsenal penalty area before Gojak turned in from an awkward angle.
However, Arsenal gave themselves hope with ten minutes left to play when Chris Willock showed good determination to eventually put a dangerous low cross into the penalty area, where a clearance hit Mavididi and looped into the back of the net. Ismael Bennacer and Willock both went close as Arsenal looked for an equaliser, but it wasn’t to be and the young Guns suffered their first defeat in this year’s competition.
Despite defeat, the Gunners remain in pole position to qualify. The under-19s go to Olympiacos in two weeks’ time needing only to avoid defeat in order to ensure qualification ahead of the Greek side.
