Arsenal under-18’s took Manchester City under-18’s on at the Emirates Stadium in the FA Youth Cup semi-final second leg on Monday evening, looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit.
A strike from Jeff Reine-Adelaide wasn’t enough as the young Gunners fell to City at the Etihad thanks to goals from Lukas Nmecha and then what turned out to be a winner from Isaac Bradley-Ricketts.
On to Monday night and it was the home side who were quickest out of the traps, scoring a great goal through Chris Willock, who collected possession and drove at the defence before firing just outside of the box after five minutes to get proceedings off well.
The Gunners continued to press and looked good through the likes of Willock, Kaylen Hinds, Reiss Nelson and Reine-Adelaide, who all stood out but the visitors got themselves back into the game through Brahim Diaz, who attacked well on the left and his headed effort hit the bar and just went beyond Hugo Keto, despite his best efforts to claw the ball away.
Arsenal looked the better side despite the goal but it was the visitors who put themselves ahead, with a quick free kick catching Tyrell Robinson out and Rodney Kongolo struck calmly beyond the ‘keeper to put City in the ascendancy at the break.
The home side put themselves back in contention when substitute Donyell Malen scored a header with one of his first touches. The game became all the more difficult when Marc Bola slipped and threw his studs into a tackle, receiving a straight red card.
Despite substitute Ben Sheaf’s fantastic late free-kick from close range which was well saved, the Arsenal under-18’s were just edged out by their opponents.
Check out how the young Gunners rated.
