U18s report: Arsenal 1-1 West Ham United

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Our under-18s drew 1-1 with West Ham United in the group stages of the U18 Premier League Cup on Saturday.

Harrison Dudziak's goal gave us the lead, but the away side responded courtesy of Josh Ajala.

What happened

We started the game confidently, Chidoze Chi smashing a shot into the side netting before finding the back of the net but being flagged offside.

The flag went up at the other end as West Ham had their first chance through Jerry Umolu’s header.

Alexi Rojas made a great save for us to deny Preston Fearon, who had shot from 20 yards out.

With half-time approaching, Osman Kamara cut in from the left and saw a shot saved before Emera Adiele and Umolu linked up well for West Ham and the latter seeing his effort dealt with by Rojas.

Early in the second half, Hammers goalkeeper Fin Herrick was sent off for a foul on Louie Copley outside the penalty area. He was replaced by Liam Jones in goal.

We took the lead in the 57th minute, Jones spilling a Michal Rosiak free-kick into the path of Dudziak, who converted for 1-0.

Chi saw an effort saved by Jones before Ayden Heaven smashed a header onto the post from Rosiak’s corner as we looked for a second goal.

Rosiak hit the post from a corner kick, but West Ham equalised against the run of play with 15 minutes remaining, Ajala making it 1-1 after cutting in from the right and slotting the ball into the far corner.

Chi struck just wide with a left footed shot and Kamara saw an effort deflected past the post for a corner, but it was West Ham who came closest to a winning goal when Ajala and Dan Rigge led a counter-attack, the latter shooting marginally wide.

What it means

With Derby County and Middlesbrough drawing their game 2-2 in Group B of the U18 Premier League Cup, we are all level on one point after one round of matches.

What's next

After the international break, we travel to Reading to return to U18 Premier League action on Saturday, September 16. It's a 12pm kick-off at Bearwood Park Training Facility.