The Arsenal u18s played out a dramatic draw with Reading on Saturday, involving four goals and three red cards.
The Arsenal u18s travelled away to face Reading this weekend, and one notable addition to their starting lineup was schoolboy Louis Zecevic-John, making his debut for the side.
It didn’t take long for the youngster to have an impact, setting up Omari Benjamin’s goal in the 18th minute with a strong run down the right.
Arsenal then doubled their lead from the penalty spot in the 57th minute, with Seb Ferdinand converting the spot-kick. Once again, Zecevic-John was involved, winning the penalty.
But unfortunately, that was far from the end of the story.
Reading won and converted two penalties of their own after the hour mark, with Taylan Harris scoring both to make it 2-2.
Arsenal had a man advantage in the dying minutes, after William Gutierrez Ramirez was sent off with four minutes of normal time remaining for a bad foul on Josh Nichols.
Just moments later, Arsenal also received a red as Ferdinand (who had been substituted) was punished for his part in a brawl between the two sides. Then Reading went down to nine as Kiyan Smith was sent off for his part in the fight.
Arsenal’s Zecevic-John and Ayden Heaven, as well as Reading’s Kai Source, all also received yellow cards in injury time. That was in addition to the five yellows dished out earlier in the game.
In total, Reading received four yellows and two reds, whilst Arsenal received four yellows and one red.
With two goals each, the two teams each took a point from the fixture, along with their suspensions.
Arsenal u18 lineup vs Reading
Rojas, Nichols, Kacurri, Heaven, Sweet, Rosiak, Akolbire, Dudziak, Zecevic-John, Ferdinand, Benjamin
Substitutes
Cooper, Shuaib (for Rosiak, 52), Oyetunde (for Benjamin, 61), Ryan (for Ferdinand, 79), Ismail (for Sweet, 79)
What’s next?
Some of the Arsenal u18s may take part in the UEFA Youth League opener against PSV u19s on Wednesday, September 20th at 13:00 BST. The game is an u19 fixture, so it remains to be seen whether the side will be predominately made up of u21s or u18s.
Arsenal’s next u18 fixture is against Southampton on Saturday, September 23rd at 11:00 BST.