U18s report: Arsenal 2-6 Aston Villa

Our under-18s' tricky few weeks continued when they lost to Aston Villa 6-2 in the U18 Premier League South on Saturday, November 1.

Villa took charge of the first half through goals from Jack McGrath, Alfie Lynskey and Markie Meade, which also accompanied an own-goal mistake, to see the visitors 4-0 up at the interval.

The floodgates remained open for the West Midlands side after the break for Lynskey to add to his tally, before we began to find a way back through finishes from Marley Frohock and Ceadach O'Neill. However, Villa capped off their victory with a sixth goal just before the final whistle, through substitute Vinnie Hayward.

What Happened

We started on the front foot and earned the first chance of the affair when Teshaun Murisa sent a cross-field ball to Alex Marciniak at the back post, but the forward sliced his volley over the Villans' upright.

It was the visitors who took the lead after eight minutes, however, through McGrath, who guided a left-footed effort across the goal and into the bottom right corner.

Since they had taken the lead, our opponents dominated possession throughout the first half-hour and almost doubled their lead when Meade played Fletcher Boyd through on goal, but the Villa man put his effort just wide of the post.

Abraham Owusu-Gyasi prevented a Villa second just moments later with an important block to deny Meade from close range.

A second did come for Villa in the next phase of play, however, when a miscommunication at the back allowed the ball to slip beyond Ranson for an own goal.

Lynksey added a third after he received a whipped ball in from Junior Wilson, which our defence struggled to clear and only required a toepoke to cross the line.

Things went from bad to worse before half-time when a quick counter-attack by the Birmingham-based side saw Meade run the length of the pitch and tuck his curled shot inside the post.

Substitutions were made during the interval, and the changes brought a renewed energy to our performance as we began to win the midfield battles.

Despite the fresh start to the half, though, Villa struck again, and it was Lynskey's second, this time from a run down the left flank by McGrath, who found the goalscorer on the outside of the box to bend his shot around Ranson.

We came close to reducing the deficit after Ceadach O'Neill darted down the right wing to lay off Frohock, but his powerful effort across the goal was tipped behind for a corner.

We continued to search for a response when substitute Josh Tahou sent Maalik Hashi through one-on-one on Rhys Oakley, but the goalkeeper got down well to deny the attempt that looked goal-bound.

Adam Birchall's substitutions created a glimmer of hope with 15 minutes to play, as O'Neill's deflected effort looped over the Villa 'keeper for Frohock to head home from a yard out.

We found a second with just minutes to go after O'Neill was brought down in the Villa box, and he smashed the penalty he won into the roof of the net.

The game was not through, however, and from the restart, Villa went up the other end and extended their lead again, this time through substitute Vinnie Hayward, who cut in from the left flank and beat Ranson at his far post, and brought an end to the busy proceedings.

What’s Next

Our under-18s will return after the international break to contend their crucial final U18 Premier League Cup group fixture, when they travel to Norwich City on Saturday, November 22.

Kick-off at the Colney Training Centre is at 12pm (UK time).

TEAM NEWS

Arsenal XI: Ranson, Hamill (Tahou 62), Ogunnaike, Owusu-Gyasi, Chapman (Statchow 46), Murisa, Bailey-Joseph (Phillips 46), Julienne, O'Neill, Hashi, Marciniak (Frohock 46).

Subs unused: Talbot.

Aston Villa: XI: Oakley, Wilson, Bloomfield (Green 55), Barnard, Burgess, Quinn, Bindley (Hayward 66), Boyd, Meade, Lynskey (Ramsey 66), McGrath.

Subs unused: Houston, Hammond.