The Arsenal u21s eased past Manchester United with a 6-2 win to reach the Premier League 2 play-off quarter-finals on Friday night.
Having finished fifth in the Premier League 2 during the league phase of the season, Arsenal were seeded in the play-offs against 12th-place finishers Manchester United.
Of the 26 teams in the Premier League 2, the top 16 progress to the play-offs in a single-leg elimination bracket to determine the overall league champion.
The play-offs kicked off on Friday with Arsenal’s match against United, and they’ll continue over the coming weeks with a quarter-final, semi-final, and final.
Match report
Despite United finishing seven places lower in the table than Arsenal, the history of the two clubs always adds an extra dimension to any matchup between them.
Yet any expectations of a close match were quickly dashed in a dominant Arsenal first half.
14 minutes into the match, Amario Cozier-Duberry found Nathan Butler-Oyedeji for a chance, and though the striker’s first shot was saved, he converted the rebound for 1-0.
Jack Henry-Francis finished a lovely team move for 2-0 13 minutes later, assisted by Reuell Walters but with Cozier-Duberry involved again in the build-up.
A few minutes after that, it was 3-0, with Cozier-Duberry scoring from a tight angle after a pass from Butler-Oyedeji.
Then Butler-Oyedeji got his second of the half to cap things off, rounding the goalkeeper to finish a chance created by a James Sweet through ball.
Ethan Nwaneri looked typically hungry for a goal in the second half, hitting the post early on, and he made one for himself minutes later as he was brought down for a penalty.
The youngster dusted himself off and converted emphatically for 5-0.
A little after the hour mark, Sam Mather scored a free-kick to pull one back for Manchester United. But with just 24 minutes left on the clock, the result was already all but confirmed.
Cozier-Duberry grabbed a second goal in injury time, finishing a chance created by a long ball from Ayden Heaven, and there was still time for Gabriele Biancheri to score a second United consolation in the 96th minute.
But Arsenal were ultimately the emphatic winners of the contest, finishing the match at 6-2.
Arsenal u21s vs Manchester United
Ejeheri, Walters, Monlouis, Heaven, Sweet, Lewis-Skelly, Henry-Francis, Nwaneri, Cozier-Duberry, Kabia, Butler-Oyedeji
Substitutes
Nichols (for Monlouis, 59), Gower (for Henry-Francis, 66), Quesada-Thorn (for Nwaneri, 83), Kamara (for Kabia, 83), B. Okonkwo
What’s next?
The Arsenal u21s will face Chelsea, with the Blues defeating their own last-16 opponents 5-4 after extra time.
The match was 3-3 after 90 minutes, 4-4 after 105 minutes, but Chelsea ultimately found the winner in the second half of extra time.
Jeorge Bird reports that the unconfirmed rumours are that the Arsenal-Chelsea quarter-final will take place on Saturday, May 11th at 13:00 BST at Meadow Park.