Match report: Arsenal U-23s 2-2 Chelsea

2 - 2

By Alex Taylor

WHAT HAPPENED

Our under-23s extended their unbeaten run to seven Premier League 2 games with a 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Meadow Park on Friday night.

Steve Bould’s side went into the game in good form but found themselves behind at the break, following two first-half goals from the Blues.

Thierno Ballo opened the scoring after 11 minutes for the visitors before Reiss Nelson dispatched an impressive free-kick to level the scores.

Chelsea struck back just three minutes later though, as Marcel Lewis shot from long range to beat Karl Hein down low to his right to see us trailing at half-time.

After the interval, both sides had the chance to add to their tallies and the Gunners had Hein to thank for an impressive save to keep us in the game at 2-1.

Lewis Bate fired a precise free-kick over the wall, only to see it expertly saved by our Estonian keeper.

As the clock ran down, Patino stepped up to grab a vital equaliser. Nelson broke clear with the ball from deep and after a good tackle by Levi Colwill it fell to Patino whose deflected long-range effort levelled the scores.