Our Under-18 Premier League Cup campaign began with an eight-goal thriller against Liverpool on Wednesday.
Andre Harriman-Annous gave us the lead before Dan Casey made it two from the penalty spot.
Harriman-Annous netted his brace before Josh Sonni-Lambie pulled one back for the hosts before half-time.
The latter reduced the arrears once more in the 63rd minute, but Brando Bailey-Joseph restored our two goal lead.
We were put under pressure again though when an Afolami Onanuga strike made it 4-3, but Dowman scored late on to put us back in control.
WHAT HAPPENED
We looked dangerous early on as Ceadach O’Neill struck a low right-footed shot from outside the penalty are just wide, but Jack Porter was on hand at the other end to deny Kareem Ahmed after we gave possession away.
Casey thought he’d given us the lead when he tapped in from close range in the 23rd minute following a tidy passage of play between Dowman and Theo Julienne, but the linesman raised his flag for offside.
Moments later, there was nothing wrong with the tap-in from Harriman-Annous, who got on the end of an O’Neill shot spilled by Bailey Hall for 1-0.
The Liverpool goalkeeper was kept busy to prevent Bailey-Joseph and Harriman-Annous from adding insult to injury around the half-hour mark, and he then tipped wide another effort from Casey.
Our dominance in the final third continued though and we were rewarded with a penalty for a foul on O’Neill in the 34th minute. Casey stepped up to take, slotting it down the middle for 2-0.
It was 3-0 just one minute later as Bailey-Joseph crossed for O’Neill. His header came back off the crossbar and Harriman-Annous was again in the right place at the right time to put the ball into the back of the net.
Julienne then brought down Sonni-Lambie for a Liverpool penalty, which was scored by the forward in question, meaning we lost our clean sheet just before half-time.
We began the second half in similar fashion as we’d played much of the first, putting plenty of pressure on and forcing Hall into making more saves.
But the home side restored some belief when Darrin Enahoro-Marcus scored in the 63rd minute for 3-2. Thankfully, we went two goals in front again before long following some lovely skill from Dowman, who spread the play wide to Bailey-Joseph. He advanced into the penalty area and curled a beauty into the top corner.
In a second half full of twists and turns, Liverpool responded again as an Onanuga shot deflected in past Porter, before Dowman made it 5-3 with a great finish into the bottom corner.
WHAT IT MEANS
We are top of Group G in the U18 PL Cup ahead of our games against Birmingham City and Crystal Palace.
WHAT’S NEXT
We’re back in U18 Premier League action with a trip to Palm Training Ground to face West Bromwich Albion. It’s a 12pm kick-off on Saturday, August 31.
LINE-UPS
Liverpool XI: Hall, Esdaille, Evers (Williams 87), Pitt (C), Enaharo-Marcus, Lonmeni (73), Ahmed (Forrester 46), O’Connor, Sonni-Lambie, Onanuga, Bradshaw.
Substitutes not used: Bernard, Murray-Holme.
Arsenal XI: Porter, Julienne (Shuaib 67), Ismail, Clarke, Sweet (C), Ibrahim, O’Neil, Casey, Harriman-Annous (Adeliba 77), Dowman (Onyekachukwu 87), Bailey-Joseph (Marciniak 77).
Substitutes not used: Talbot.
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