Our under-21s were held to an eventful 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League 2 on Monday night.
The standout moment of the match was undoubtedly the return of first-team defender Jurrien Timber, marking his first appearance since recovering from an ACL injury suffered in August.
Timber wasted no time in leaving his mark, putting us ahead with a fabulous strike from the edge of the box into the top corner after just eight minutes.
We came close to doubling our lead moments later when Ethan Nwaneri found Henry Francis in a promising position, but his shot was denied by the Blackburn keeper.
The hosts came close to drawing level when Junior Nsangou attempted to lob Brian Okonkwo, but fortunately for us, the ball ricocheted off the post.
We extended our lead from the penalty spot when Nathan Butler-Oyedeji was brought down in the box. Amario Cozier-Duberry confidently stepped up and calmly sent the keeper the wrong way to double our advantage.
However, our lead was short-lived as Rovers quickly responded with Harrison Wood's shot from the edge of the area finding the back of the net.
To add to our setback, Rovers scored again in first-half stoppage time as Nsangou flicked home from close range, levelling the score just before the break.
After the interval, Elian Quesada-Thorn was substituted for Timber, who made a solid return to action, playing a sharp and composed 45 minutes on the field.
Our first real clear-cut chance came on the hour after some great wing play from Ismeal Kabia to beat his defender, he found Butler-Oyedeji in the box who teed up Nwaneri but he fired his shot straight down the goalkeeper’s throat.
Towards the end, we relied on Okonkwo to make a crucial save as he denied Wood's effort following a swift Blackburn counter-attack.
Despite our best efforts, we had to settle for a point on the road in our penultimate regular season fixture.
What it means
The point sees us move up to fifth place with 33 points from 19 games played.
What's next
Our final regular season league game before the Premier League 2 play-offs sees us travel to Liverpool on Sunday, April 28.
Kick-off at AXA Training Centre is at 1pm (UK).
Team news
Arsenal XI: Okonkwo, Nichols (Sweet, 79), Walters, Heaven, Timber (Quesada-Thorn, 46) Lewis-Skelly, Henry-Francis, Nwaneri, Kabia, Cozier-Duberry, Butler-Oyedeji
Subs not used: Ranson, Robinson, Oulad M’Hand
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