By Max Jones at Amex Stadium
SUMMARY
Arsenal Under-21s cruised to a 4-0 victory over Brighton at Amex Stadium on Monday.
Glen Kamara opened the scoring after nine minutes with an unstoppable looping shot from 18 yards and Chuba Akpom tapped in after an intricate corner routine soon after.
Akpom had a second before half-time, lobbing England Under-20 goalkeeper Christian Walton to give Arsenal an unassailable lead going into the break.
Akpom had several opportunities to complete his hat-trick in the second half and eventually secured it from the spot in the final minute.
SETTING THE SCENE
After going a whole month without a game, the Arsenal side showed three changes to the one that beat Middlesbrough 2-0 at the end of October.
Ryan Huddart replaced Matt Macey in goal while fellow under-18 Chiori Johnson came in for Tafari Moore. Tyrell Robinson, naturally a forward, replaced Marc Bola at left back.
Going into the game the teams' situations were very different. Arsenal sat second in Division Two, just two points off league leaders Newcastle United, while Brighton hovered one place above the bottom spot.
FIRST HALF
With both teams adopting a similar formation and a short passing approach, the game seemed balanced and looked like it would take something special to break the deadlock. Up stepped Kamara.
Dan Crowley and Ainsley Maitland-Niles combined to play a short corner across the box to the midfielder, and he looped his strike into the top corner.
Arsenal seized control of the game and doubled their lead from another corner. Crowley played short again before creeping in behind the defence to collect the return pass and square for Akpom to tap into an empty net.
The striker soon had a second when he latched onto Robinson’s ball over the top and casually clipped it over Walton on the half-volley to conclude a dominant half for the young Gunners.
SECOND HALF
Arsenal continued to cause problems for the home side after the break. Akpom had a chance to complete his hat-trick after being found unmarked in the box by Iwobi, but placed his shot the wrong side of the post.
Akpom continued to get into dangerous positions and was unlucky to be denied twice more by diving defenders before Walton pulled off a fine reaction save to halt the striker.
The goalkeeper then made the best save of the game to keep out Crowley from six yards after Akpom’s shot had been cleared off the line.
Akpom finally scored his hat-trick goal from the penalty spot after being brought down in the box, extending Arsenal's unbeaten run to four games.
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