Arsenal U18s strike twice early to beat Birmingham City and maintain unbeaten start
Arsenal U18s continued their perfect start to the season in the U18 Premier League South, beating Birmingham City 2-0 at The Knighthead Training and Academy Grounds on Saturday afternoon.
The young Gunners were without in-form forward Ceadach O’Neill, who debuted for the U21s in their Premier League 2 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday evening.
New signing Callan Hammill opened the scoring inside six minutes, rising highest to head home from Alex Marciniak’s corner to register his first goal for Arsenal.
Moments later, Marciniak doubled the lead, placing the ball into the top corner with a brilliant left-footed strike.
The hosts then began to push to halve the deficit and almost scored when Toby Ugorji delivered a brilliant free-kick, but it was saved by goalkeeper Jack Talbot.
Arsenal made a substitution before halftime with Marley Frohock replacing Kyran Thompson.
Adam Birchall’s side could have extended their lead before the break when defender Josh Ogunnaike headed the ball across the face of goal for Frohock to score, but the latter’s effort flew over the bar.
After the interval, Brighton pushed to get a goal and get back into the game. Their biggest chance fell to forward Kian McCusker, whose shot was saved by the Talbot.
Despite the pressure from the hosts, Arsenal’s backline remained solid, helping to secure all three points and make it three wins in as many games.
The young Gunners head into the international break top of the U18 Premier League South standings, having won their opening games, scoring seven goals and conceding three.
They will return to action on September 13, when they face Chelsea in the first London derby of the season at Sobha Realty Training Centre.
The post Arsenal U18s strike twice early to beat Birmingham City and maintain unbeaten start first appeared on ArsenalNews.co.uk.