U18s report: West Bromwich Albion 0-0 Arsenal

We battled to a hard-earned 0-0 draw with West Bromwich Albion in the West Midlands on the opening day of the U18 Premier League season.

The first 45 minutes of the new season brought few chances, with Harry French striking the crossbar for the Baggies and Maalik Hashi finding the side netting from a direct free-kick for our Gunners.

A more eventful second half saw chances at both ends, with Jack Talbot making a series of stunning saves to help us secure a point on the opening day of the 2026/27 campaign.

FIRST HALF

The hosts had the first opportunity of the game after ten minutes when Talbot played a loose ball to French, only for the forward to strike the bar with our goalkeeper off his line.

Our first chance came a few moments later, and Hashi, who scored the only goal in this fixture last season, was unlucky not to break the deadlock with a powerful free-kick which landed just on the wrong side of the post.

We came close to taking the lead right on half-time when a flowing move ended with a chance for Emerson Nwaneri, but the forward fired his effort just wide of the post at the end of a largely uneventful first half.

SECOND HALF

The Baggies made a fast start to the second half, almost taking the lead within 30 seconds of the restart. Danyal Iqbal was played in on goal, but fired his effort wide from close range.

We responded well to West Brom's fast start, and worked a lovely team move, with the chance falling to Elyon Mbala, who saw his effort blocked by a wall of home defenders.

Talbot then made a series of outstanding saves after the hour mark, first denying Ali Camara before making a second stunning point blank save.

Hashi came close with a series of efforts in the last fifteen minutes, forcing a save from Maxwell Moses with another great free-kick effort before two shots inside the penalty area were charged down by Baggies defenders.

WHAT IT MEANS

A goalless draw leaves us with one point after our first game of the new season.

WHAT'S NEXT

Our first home game of the new season sees us welcome Ipswich Town to the Sobha Realty Training Centre.

We'll face the Tractor Boys on Saturday, August 22, with kick-off scheduled for 12pm (UK).

Line-ups

West Brom XI: Moses, Lartey (Hutchinson, 75'), Round, Sankoh (Bythell, 65'), Perkins, Saa, Bastafield, Iqbal, Camara (Williams, 81'), French, Billings

Subs: Nasibu, Davis, Colgan

Arsenal XI: Talbot, Owusu-Gyasi (Odaji-Ukueku, 61'), Mbala, McCarron, Stachow, Murisa, Hashi, Sampang (Maghoma, 69'), Frohock, Nwaneri (Abubakar, 61'), Phillips (Sesay, 69')

Subs: Lupinski, Arteta