Marcelo Flores scored twice for the Arsenal u18s in a win against Crystal Palace on Saturday, helping his side come back from a first-half deficit.

Arsenal u18s started a talented group of attacking players against Crystal Palace, with Marcelo Flores joining Omari Hutchinson, Khayon Edwards and Kido Taylor-Hart in the lineup.

They’re all very young, with two of them still just 16, Edwards turning 17 this month and Taylor-Hart 17 as well. But they’re showing potential and look like players for the future.

All the same, it was Crystal Palace who took the lead through David Omilabu, just before half-time. Arsenal needed their young attackers to step up, and they did.

Flores levelled the scores with a well-placed finish from the edge of the box, before Edwards made it 2-1 seven minutes later. Hutchinson and Taylor-Hart assisted the goals respectively.

Palace equalised, before Flores showed his individual brilliance to find the winner. Picking up the ball on the left a long way from goal, he beat three defenders before firing in at the near post.

He posted the goals to his Instagram story afterwards, you can watch them below:

Marcelo Flores’ goals against Crystal Palace for the u18s today #AFC pic.twitter.com/nuCJPZHjGF

— Dan Critchlow (@afcDW) September 26, 2020

I’m wary of hyping this u18 side up too much because they are all still so young. They may struggle for consistent results this season against teams with older players ahead in their development.

But they’re showing what they can do, and Flores made a particular impression on this occasion. We haven’t even mentioned the likes of Charlie Patino, arguably one of the top talents in the team in midfield. They just need time to develop.

On a slightly less encouraging note, Hutchinson picked up a minor injury in the match. He says he’ll be out ‘for a few days’.