U18s report: Newcastle United 4-2 Arsenal

4 - 2

What happened

It was a tough start to our Premier League Cup campaign as we fell to Newcastle United 4-2 away from home.

Following our definitive win in last weekend’s north London Derby, our under-18s were looking to build on their good form under new boss Jack Wilshere.

However, it was Newcastle who would be rewarded very shortly after kick-off. Three minutes in, a ball was flashed across goal and Lucas Cooper scored from close range past Alexei Rojas.

It didn’t take long for us to respond and Elian Quesada-Thorn brought us level after ten minutes. Seb Ferdinand slid a glorious ball through to Quesada-Thorn, whose first time shot nestled into the bottom corner.

We built on the momentum from our equaliser and continued to threaten the Newcastle goal. Sure enough, after 32 minutes, Kaleel Green drove towards the Newcastle box, played a neat one-two with Seb Ferdinand and took a shot which the opposition keeper palmed into his own net.

Despite being narrowly ahead at the break, we saw our lead slip away just before the hour mark through a Ben Parkinson finish. A few minutes later, the hosts capitalised on a failed clearance from a cross and Lewis Miley drilled a low shot into the net.

Wilshere did attempt to shake things up through the subs bench, bringing on Osman Kamara for goalscorer, Kaleel Green. Tino Quamina was also forced to come off with an injury, and Coby Small replaced him in defence.

The game was put out of our reach seven minutes from time, as Miley caught Rojas off his line and lifted the ball from the halfway line into the net.

What's next

We have plenty of time to refocus and prepare for our next clash. Our Under-18s are back in league action against West Brom on September 17. Kick-off is at 11:30 at London Colney.