U21s report: Birmingham City 0-0 Arsenal

Our under-21s were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Birmingham City at the Knighthead Training and Academy Grounds on Friday afternoon.

We created a host of opportunities in the first half, but were denied time and time again by home goalkeeper Tyrese Warmington, who made particularly good saves from Andre Harriman-Annous and Josh Ogunnaike.

Despite further chances after the break, the best of which fell to Elijah Upson and Maalik Hashi, we had to settle for a point.

FIRST HALF

We made a bright start at the Knighthead Training Ground and came close to an early goal when James Scanlon picked out Josh Ogunnaike on the left, who forced a quick reaction save from Tyrese Warmington in the Blues' goal.

Ceadach O'Neill was next to have a go, firing a powerful effort towards the bottom corner from 20 yards, only for Warmington to get down quickly to his right.

Our Gunners continued to mount the pressure on in the early stages, and had another near miss when Andre Harriman-Annous' first-time strike from just inside the penalty area did beat Warmington, but hit the bottom of the post.

Harriman-Annous came close to break the deadlock once again on the half-hour mark, forcing a stunning reaction save from Warmington from a sweetly struck volley after the Birmingham goalkeeper had tipped a cross off the head of Ife Ibrahim.

Right at the end of the half, Harriman-Annous caused problems for the hosts again, picking out O'Neill on the edge of the box, who saw his effort saved. Ogunnaike then arrived on the follow-up, but saw his shot on the rebound smothered by Warmington, who capped an excellent half with yet another crucial save.

SECOND HALF

We picked up where we left off after the break and had another big chance with our first set-piece of the second half, with Elijah Upson's header landing the wrong side of the post.

The hosts created their first opportunity of the game after 55 minutes when Finn McGreevy darted down the right wing and fired a powerful effort just over the crossbar from a tight angle.

After a triple change, which saw Evan Mooney, Igor Tyjon and Archie Stevens all introduced, Mooney forced another save from Warmington before Hashi's rebound effort from the edge of the box was also beaten away by the Birmingham no.1.

The final 30 minutes of the game brought few chances with little to do for either goalkeeper.

There was one final chance for our young Gunners when a long ball dropped to Tyjon 20 yards out, but the striker missed out on his first Arsenal goal by a couple of inches as his curling effort dropped just wide of the post, with what was the final kick of the game.

WHAT IT MEANS

Our third draw in four Premier League 2 games means we head into the first international break of the season with three points on the board.

WHAT'S NEXT

Our young Gunners head to an international window for the next three weeks, with several players in action for their respective countries, both at youth and senior levels.

After the extended break, we'll be back at Mangata Developments Stadium to face Sunderland on Saturday, October 10 for a 1pm (UK) kick-off.

LINE-UPS

Arsenal XI: Ranson, Hamill (Mbala, 46'), Ogunnaike, Clarke, Upson, Ibrahim, O'Neill (Stevens, 60'), Julienne (Tyjon, 60'), Harriman-Annous, Hashi (Agustien, 73'), Scanlon (Mooney, 60')

Subs: Porter, Nwaneri

Birmingham City XI: Warmington, Thomas-Jones (Campbell, 90+1'), Chahal, Burrell, Quirk, Maddox, Bamba (Da Silva, 58'), Martin-Moore (Hawkeswood, 67'), Reilly (Ugorji, 67'), Elmansuri, McGreevy

Subs: Smith