Arsenal have one win and one defeat on the board after their opening fixtures in the u20 International Cup in Bali, with one group game to go.

Photo via Instagram / SamGreenwood9
Photo via Instagram / SamGreenwood9

If you missed our post providing the details for the u20 International Cup, along with the squad list, go and check that out first.

Arsenal’s opening game of the group stage was against the Indonesia All-Stars, and the u20s slipped to a disappointing 3-1 defeat. Sam Greenwood scored a late penalty for the Gunners.

According to those in attendance, the weather played a big part. The intense heat was more difficult to handle for the Arsenal players compared to the locals. The All-Stars only narrowly lost 5-4 to Real Madrid in their second game.

Arsenal needed a response quickly against Inter Milan, and they found one with a 1-0 victory on Tuesday. Marcelo Flores, who only turned 16 in October, scored the winning goal having also won the penalty in the first game.

Based on the group standings, the bad news ahead of the final game against Real Madrid is that any result other than a win will see Arsenal finish third/fourth and drop into the third-place playoff. The good news is that a win will guarantee a spot in the final.

There’s no permutation where Arsenal win and finish third or fail to win and still finish in the top two anyway. As a result, the task is clear, they must win.

The final group game is on December 5th at 8am BST (4pm local time).

U20 International Cup Goal Highlights

For the video of Greenwood’s penalty against the Indonesia All-Stars, skip to 1:25 in the video below:

Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any high-quality clips of Flores’ goal against Inter Milan. You can watch a blurry clip of the goal in the below video from 0:18. Keep watching for the replays, as they’re a little more clear.