U18s report: Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham City

Our under-18s secured their first win of 2026, coming from behind to beat Birmingham City.

We made a bright start and nearly went ahead inside the opening exchanges. Ceadach O’Neill pressed the goalkeeper into a mistake, but his blocked effort looped narrowly over the bar.

The pressure continued. A swift counter-attack, led by Alex Marciniak, saw the midfielder clip an inviting ball to the back post for Kyran Thompson. He combined cleverly with Emerson Nwaneri, who delicately lifted a return pass into Thompson’s path, but his volley drifted just over.

Despite our early dominance, it was the visitors who struck first. Fynn Hawkeswood reacted quickest after his initial effort was blocked, smashing home from close range to give Birmingham the lead.

Our response was immediate. Thompson’s deflected strike rattled the crossbar, and O’Neill showed sharp instincts to stoop low and head home the rebound to bring us level.

We completed the turnaround before the break. Nwaneri’s low cross from inside the area was spilt by Shea Birmingham, and Maalik Hashi was perfectly placed to tap into an empty net.

The young Gunners extended their advantage early in the second half as Marciniak capped a fine performance with a composed finish to make it three, giving us full control of the contest.

We threatened to add further gloss in the closing stages, but managed the game well to see out a deserved victory and secure all three points.

WHAT IT MEANS

The win moves us onto 18 points from 13 league games this season.

WHAT'S NEXT

Our under-18s are back in action in just three days’ time with a north London derby clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday, February 17.

Kick-off at Sobha Realty Training Centre Stadium is at 11am (UK).

LINE-UPS

Arsenal XI: Porter, Owusu-Gyasi, Stachow, Pedro, Ogunnaike (Abubakar, 63), Murisa (Onyekachukwu, 81), Hashi (Frohock, 71), Nwaneri, Marciniak, Thompson, O’Neill (Nduka, 45)

Birmingham City XI: Birmingham, Bamba, B.Campbell, Ranson (Pearsall, 72), Thompson-Jones, Martin-Moore (Flavell, 55), Hawkeswood (Greer, 72), Robinson, Degtiarev, Nunes-Wickham, (Elmansuri, 27) M.Campbell (Ralph, 72)