Our under-18s were beaten 1-0 away to Reading in the U18 Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
What happened
Reading had the first chance of the game as Carter Bowdery drove through midfield and slotted Jerae Jones through on goal, but his shot from the right channel flew over the crossbar.
Brando Bailey-Joseph then beat his man on the left wing but his cross was blocked for a corner. We played it short and Cam’ron Ismail curled in left footed, with captain Will Sweet rising highest but heading straight at the Reading ‘keeper from six yards out.
We pressed to win the ball back from a goal kick, before Bailey-Joseph’s shot from inside the box was pushed wide by Harrison Rhone.
Bailey-Joseph was involved again as Louie Copley slotted him in on the left wing, his curling shot from the left of the box flying narrowly wide of the far post.
Jones then hit the woodwork after controlling a long ball over the top and, surrounded by red shirts, going alone and hitting the bottom right post from inside the box.
We hit the bar at the other end with Brayden Clarke well forward on the right wing, curling an excellent ball into the box as Copley rose highest, crashing a header off the crossbar.
Bailey-Joseph went close again as he cut in from the right and struck goalwards, but the shot was blocked by Sam Harrison as the ball narrowly missed the near post and went behind for a corner.
Andre Harriman-Annous nicked possession off Kai Source and dribbled into the box from the left, with his near post shot at a right angle crashing into the side netting.
Sweet drove forward from halfway and had options but opted to shoot from 25 yards out, dragging his left-footed effort wide of the bottom right corner.
Second-half substitute Daniel Oyetunde’s first involvement saw him force Rhone into a neat save as his powerful right footed strike from the right was kept out.
Ife Ibrahim had space to shoot on the edge of the box and forced a good diving save from Rhone, denying his shot towards the bottom right corner.
There were two efforts from Sweet, his first effort hitting the post and his second scuffing just wide.
With just under 10 minutes to go, Reading countered down the left with Kallum Fuller-Thompson, who switched play to the far post, finding Merai Savage in space, but his first time effort was tame and easy for Khari Ranson to gather.
Reading took the lead against the run of play in the 85th minute as they worked a two-on-one down the right wing. Fuller-Thompson had space to drive into and found Verrell George in the box, who took a touch before slotting beyond Ranson.
What it means
We're ninth in the U18 Premier League with 10 points from nine games.
What's next
Following the November international break, our under-18s will be back in action at Sobha Realty Training Centre for the visit of Crystal Palace in the Premier League Cup at 11am on Saturday, November 23.
line-ups
Reading XI: Rhone, Source, Harrison, Duah, Irish (Neptune 78), Savage, Bowdery, Dove, Smith, Jones (George 46), Saint-Louis (Fuller-Thompson 61).
Substitutes (not used): Welland.
Arsenal XI: Ranson, Salmon (Casey 60), Clarke, Sweet (C), Ismail, Ibrahim, Copley, Julienne (Onyekachukwu 90+1), Zecevic-John (O'Neill 46), Harriman-Annous, Bailey-Joseph (Oyetunde 61).
Substitutes (not used): Porter.
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