Khayon Edwards was involved in all three goals as the Arsenal u18s beat West Bromwich Albion away from home on Saturday.

After their opening day 5-3 win over Aston Villa, Dan Micciche’s Arsenal u18s travelled to West Brom for their second round u18 Premier League fixture on Saturday.

The starting lineup was exactly the same one that faced Villa, and the bench was identical as well, so Micciche was clearly keen to reward the side that did so well in the previous match.

Just as they had that day, Arsenal took another early lead through Khayon Edwards in the 14th minute. It seems there was a mix-up with the numbers on the Premier League website with Amario Cozier-Duberry, but it was Edwards who scored the early goal.

Arsenal had the vast majority of the first-half chances, but they only took a 1-0 lead into the break. It was therefore a nice nerve settler when Marcelo Flores doubled the lead in the 52nd minute, set up by Edwards.

After Flores’ hat-trick and assist against Aston Villa, another goal here took his tally to five goal contributions in just two games, an excellent start to the new campaign.

West Brom then pulled one back on the day, with Mark Chidi setting up Finley Thorndike for 2-1 in the 67th minute. But Edwards restored the two-goal lead with another goal in the 74th minute, set up by Amario Cozier-Duberry.

That leaves Edwards on four goal contributions in two games himself, and he was only denied a fifth by a strong penalty save in the Villa game. It’s going to be difficult to drop either of those two for the next match against Brighton on August 28th at 11:30 BST.

As for the game, it ended 3-1, and it was another deserved victory for Micciche’s side. With 15 shots and 11 on target to West Brom’s five, the opposition couldn’t really argue with the result.

At this very early stage of the season, the Arsenal u18s sit third in the u18 Premier League South, behind Chelsea and Southampton on goal difference.

Arsenal u18 Lineup vs West Bromwich Albion

Starting Lineup

Mitchell (GK); Walters, Henry-Francis, Foran, Jeffcott; Bandeira, Sagoe Jr, Sweet; Cozier-Duberry, Edwards, Flores

Substitutes

Kovacevic, Roberts (for Walters, 60), Richards (for Sweet, 72), Robinson, Quesada-Thorn