We continued our positive start to Premier League 2 Division One with a 3-1 win away to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday afternoon.
Nathan Butler-Oyedeji gave us the lead in the second half before Ismeal Kabia made it two. Dani Angel pulled one back for the hosts, but Butler-Oyedeji completed his brace late on.
Nelson Semedo, serving a suspension for Wolves’ first team, went through on goal in the 11th minute, but Ayden Heaven got back to make a vital block and concede a corner.
Joe Hodge saw a free-kick hit our wall before we had our first real chance when Michal Rosiak found Khayon Edwards, who shot straight at Lewyn Benjamin on his left foot.
At the end of an otherwise quiet first half, an Owen Farmer free-kick reached Nigel Longwijk, whose header from close range was saved brilliantly by Jack Porter, showing quick reflexes on his under-21s debut.
Ten minutes into the second half, a Rosiak corner was nodded wide by Maldini Kacurri before Joe Hodge broke into the final third with a dangerous run. He found Angel, whose shot was far too soft to trouble Porter.
Ismail Oulad M’Hand had an effort deflected over the bar after receiving the ball from Myles Lewis-Skelly, and it was the following Rosiak corner that Kacurri met again, only to be denied by Benjamin.
There was nothing the Wolves goalkeeper could do about the next delivery from Rosiak though, as the ball fell to Butler-Oyedeji to convert.
It didn’t take long for us to find the back of the net again, Edwards carrying us forward and finding Kabia to his right. The latter picked out the bottom left corner precisely for 2-0.
Wolves pulled one back when a long ball forward from Farmer was gathered by Angel, who managed to hit the target from a narrow angle after taking the ball wide of Porter.
But we restored our two-goal lead just one minute later, Butler-Oyedeji finding the bottom left corner for his third goal in two games as Wolves failed to clear the danger.
WHAT IT MEANS
Two wins from two games take us to the top of PL2 ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures, which begin at 7pm on Friday.
WHAT’S NEXT
We’re back in action at Mangata Pay UK Stadium for a 7pm kick-off on Friday, August 30 against Aston Villa in PL2.
TEAM NEWS
Wolves XI: Benjamin, Semedo (Keto-Diyawa 80), Lonwijk (Hubner 46), Pond, Lembikisa, Rawlings (Edozie 80), Hodge, Esen, Whittingham, Farmer, Chiwome (Angel 46).
Substitutes not used: Okoduwa.
Arsenal XI: Porter, Nichols (Quesada-Thorn 80), Kacurri, Heaven, Lewis-Skelly (Robinson 80), Rosiak, Gower, Oulad M’Hand (Dudziak 75), Kabia (Ferdinand 89), Butler-Oyedeji (C), Edwards.
Substitutes not used: Okonkwo.
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.
