Ethan Nwaneri scored an excellent goal to make up for missing a penalty as the Arsenal u21s defeated Chelsea away from home on Friday night.
Mehmet Ali’s Arsenal u21s played out a dramatic 4-2 victory away to Chelsea on Friday night to keep the pressure on at the top end of the Premier League 2 table.
Karl Hein had to make an acrobatic early save to keep Arsenal from going behind, but the Gunners then had a great opportunity to take the lead when Josh Nichols was brought down in the Chelsea penalty area.
Ethan Nwaneri stepped up to the spot, but his effort was well saved by Teddy Sharman-Lowe.
Arsenal continued to push for a goal over the next few minutes, but the game turned when Deivid Washington opened the scoring on the counter-attack.
Chelsea briefly took the upper hand in the game, yet Arsenal then equalised through Taylor Foran. Amario Cozier-Duberry’s shot was saved by Sharman-Lowe, but Foran was ready to turn in the rebound for 1-1.
Both teams had chances to take the lead before the break, but they ended up going down the tunnel with the scores still level.
Eight minutes into the second half, Arsenal had the lead for the first time in the match. Jimi Gower played the ball out to James Sweet on the left-hand side, and Sweet cut inside before finishing high into the net for 2-1.
Hein made a great save to keep Arsenal ahead a few minutes later, before the Gunners had a chance to double their lead through Nwaneri.
Nwaneri played a clever ball to get Nathan Butler-Oyedeji in behind, and the striker rounded the goalkeeper before squaring a pass back to Arsenal’s number 10.
With the goal gaping, Nwaneri lifted his shot over the bar.
It looked like it wasn’t going to be Nwaneri’s day, but just a few minutes later, things finally went right for him.
Nwaneri beat multiple Chelsea defenders with a solo run before firing into the net with his left foot for 3-1. He seemed more than a bit relieved to see the ball finally go in.
😉 "Here's Nwaneri, away from two, three, four, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful."
📺 Tune in to highlights of #AFCU21's comeback win over Chelsea in the #PL2 👇
— Arsenal Academy (@ArsenalAcademy) March 2, 2024
Returning loanee Butler-Oyedeji finished the game off in the 84th minute, poking home from a tight angle for 4-1 after an assist from Cozier-Duberry.
But there was still time for Chelsea to score one more consolation in injury time, with Jimmy Morgan tapping in from close range.
Arsenal ended the night in third place, four points ahead of Chelsea, and four points off league leaders Tottenham Hotspur with a north London derby coming up next.
Arsenal u21 lineup vs Chelsea
Hein, Nichols, Foran, Heaven, Sweet, Rosiak, Gower, Nwaneri, I. Oulad M’Hand, Cozier-Duberry, Butler-Oyedeji
Substitutes
Jeffcott (for Nichols, 65), Kabia (for Nwaneri, 76), Dudziak (for I. Oulad M’Hand, 88), Ejeheri, Kamara
What’s next?
The Arsenal u21s face Tottenham Hotspur at Meadow Park on Friday, March 8th at 19:00 GMT.