During his last game for Arsenal’s u18s, Folarin Balogun was the star of the show with a goal, assist, and a beautiful rabona you can see below.

Folarin Balogun
via Arsenal.com

Arsenal took a step closer to the u18 Premier League title with victory over Chelsea on Friday, comfortably easing past their London rivals 3-0.

Folarin Balogun has been in fantastic form for the young side after signing his first professional contract with Arsenal a month ago. Since putting pen to paper on his new deal he has seven goals and two assists in six games, two of which came in this victory over one of the u18s’ title rivals, Chelsea. Plus, this rabona:

https://twitter.com/ArsenalAcademy/status/1105137348235415554?s=19

Defeat would’ve blown the u18 title race open, leaving Chelsea just three points behind the Gunners and two behind Tottenham, albeit with Spurs having a couple of games in hand. Instead, Arsenal are now nine points clear of Chelsea and four points ahead at the top, though those additional games for their North London rivals could change that.

Balogun opened the scoring as he usually does, before Tyreece John-Jules added a second set up by Zak Swanson. Sam Greenwood finished the game off in the second half, assisted by Balogun.

In his 23 appearances this campaign, Balogun has scored 21 goals and provided seven assists, broken down as follows:

  • Premier League 2 (u23s): 3 substitute appearances, 1 goal
  • EFL Trophy (u21s): 1 substitute appearance, 0 goals
  • U18 Premier League (u18s): 14 starts, 17 goals, 5 assists
  • FA Youth Cup (u18s): 3 starts, 2 goals, 2 assists
  • U18 PL Cup (u18s): 2 starts, 1 goal

If Tottenham’s u18s do win their games in hand, Arsenal still have an opportunity to take back top spot with the North London derby between the two sides coming up in April. Let’s hope for a strong end to the season.