Jack Wilshere's young Gunners staged a remarkable comeback from a 2-0 deficit to secure their third consecutive victory over Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.
Michal Rosiak, Louie Copley, Louis Zecevic John, and Chido Martin Obi all found the back of the net to complete a spirited turnaround at Sobha Realty Training Centre.
We began the match with our backs against the wall, conceding two goals within the first 15 minutes as Bradley Burrows and Cole Brannigan capitalised on our errors, giving the away side a perfect start.
However, we managed to pull one back from the penalty spot when Zecevic John was brought down on a counter attack. Rosiak stepped up and confidently sent the Villa keeper the wrong way, halving the deficit and injecting some hope back into the game.
Just before the break, we came agonisingly close to equalising when Martin Obi met Rosiak’s corner with a powerful header, only to see it crash off the crossbar.
However, our persistence paid off in first-half added time. Following a blocked cross from John, the ball kindly landed at the feet of Copley and he fired his shot across goal, finding the bottom corner and levelling the score at two apiece as we headed into the break.
Straight after kick-off, we found ourselves in a precarious situation as we conceded a penalty when Theo Julienne brought down Brannigan. However, Owen Asemota rose to the occasion, pulling off a crucial save to deny the opposition and keep us on level terms.
Moments later, we turned the tide in our favour as John applied the finishing touch to a brilliant counter attack, putting us ahead in the game.
The visitors were reduced to ten players late on as Max Asante-Boakye pulled down Martin Obi as he was bearing down on goal.
Martin Obi sealed our victory in added time, adding to his impressive goal tally for the season. A flick from Harrison Dudziak fell perfectly into his path, allowing him to calmly slot his effort into the bottom corner. This goal marked his 21st of the season.
What it means
The result keeps us in third place in the table with 42 points from 21 games.
What's next
We're on the road next week as we travel to East Anglia to face Norwich City on Saturday, April 27.
Kick-off at Colney Training Centre is at 12pm.
Team news
Arsenal XI: Asemota, Julienne (Ibrahim, 60), Clarke, Sweet, Ismail, Rosiak, Copley (Dowman, 60), Dudziak, Kamara, Zecevic John (Annous, 80), Martin Obi
Subs not used: Ranson, Shuaib
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.
