By Lloyd Webb
Arsenal drew 3-3 with Aston Villa in a thrilling end-to-end game at London Colney on Saturday.
Nathan Tella gave the hosts an early lead but they were pegged back three minutes later by Harvey Knibbs’ header.
Eddie Nketieh restored the lead but Aston Villa turned the game on its head after the break when they struck twice through Jake Humphries and Mitch Clark.
But with just a minute left on the clock, Kostas Pileas poked home a dramatic equaliser to earn the hosts a draw.
Franz de Kat handed goalkeeper Joao Virginia his debut while under-21 player Tyrell Robinson started on the left.
The Gunners took the early initiative when a deep cross found Tella with plenty of time and the teenager produced a fine turn before rifling the ball into the net.
It did not take long for the visitors to level the scores when Knibbs headed home a whipped corner.
A defensive mix up between goalkeeper and defender saw Nketiah roll the ball into an empty net to restore the hosts’ lead.
Robinson was soon kicking himself after he raced through on goal and spurned a glorious chance before the break.
Aston Villa hit a quick double when Humphries rounded off a fine attacking move to equalise before Clark curled the ball past Virginia.
With just a minute to go, Pileas reacted first to a loose ball in the box to fire in and earn the Gunners a valuable point.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
