Arsenal u19s won a second consecutive UEFA Youth League game to remain top of their group.

The Gunners welcomed Olympiacos to Boreham Wood on Tuesday afternoon before the senior sides meet in the evening, and struggled to a 3-2 win thanks to two Julio Pleguezuelo goals and a Ben Sheaf penalty.

An early scare saw Olympiacos hit the post from a set-piece routine, but that wasn’t enough to warn Arsenal to up their game. After just seven minutes, the young Gunners found themselves a goal down to an Olympiacos side which surprisingly beat Bayern Munich u19s 1-0 a fortnight ago.

Georgios Manthatis scored the opening goal of the game for the visitors, dribbling all the way into the box before beating Hugo Keto in the Arsenal goal.

The lead didn’t last long, though. The goal seemed to wake Arsenal up and, though the game continued to be end-to-end, the equaliser came after a series of dangerous set-piece situations. After two free-kicks had been wasted, another Ben Sheaf delivery came into the box and was prodded home by captain Julio Pleguezuelo.

Half chances for Stephy Mavididi went unconverted as fellow forwards Chris Willock and Alex Iwobi failed to impose themselves on the game, and the surprise 1-1 scoreline at half-time was no less than the Greek side deserved. Just minutes into the second half, Kaylen Hinds found himself pulled down in the box and Ben Sheaf gave Arsenal the lead from the penalty spot.

Georgios Androutsos cancelled the penalty out within two minutes to level the score at 2-2 but Sheaf, an England u18 international, impressed and started to dictate the game from the middle of the park.

Once again a Ben Sheaf corner found Julio Pleguezuelo, who volleyed home to give Arsenal the lead. The young defender is technically superb and played brilliantly all afternoon. Two goals were his reward, but Pleguzuelo also led his defence well throughout.

Arsenal fans were treated to the debut of Donyell Malen, signed from Ajax over the summer, as he replaced Mavididi, who struggled to get into the game, with 20 minutes remaining. Malen looked busy and linked up with his new team-mates well. Stefan O’Connor also came off the bench to take the place of Pole Krystian Bielik alongside Pleguezuelo.

After an impressive first half, Olympiacos couldn’t put as much pressure on Arsenal after the break and – despite the scoreline – the result was more deserved than it seems. Hinds, Iwobi and Willock all improved as Arsenal took control the game.

Two wins from two games is a great start to proceedings for the Gunners, who will go into the games against Bayern Munich full of confidence.