WHAT HAPPENED
Our under-18s returned to winning ways with an emphatic victory against Southampton at London Colney on Saturday.
We opened the scoring shortly before half-time through Tyreece John-Jules, who lashed home from close range after taking advantage of a poor header from Oliver Gardner.
Following the interval, it took us just two minutes to double our lead, with Zak Swanson this time knocking in a debut goal after meeting Fol Balogun’s cross.
Southampton were handed a lifeline from the spot when Michael Obafemi was felled inside the area after the hour mark, and the striker made no mistake.
Ten minutes later, Danny Ballard restored our two-goal lead, finishing off a neat free-kick routine by heading in past Alex Cull in goal.
Kwame Ampadu’s side were not finished there, and John-Jules added his second seven minutes from time from the spot, while Bukayo Saka curled one in moments later to round off the scoring.
“I thought it was a little bit of a slow burner to begin with,” said Ampadu to Arsenal Player. “We haven’t had a game for a couple of weeks, so it took us a little bit of time to find our rhythm and then when we did we were able to quicken the pass and quicken the tempo and create some chances.”
WHAT IT MEANS
The win means that we are now second in the league, leading Fulham and Leicester City on goal difference, while trailing unbeaten league leaders Chelsea by eight points.
WHAT’S NEXT
Up next comes an away trip to fourth-placed Leicester, who we are level on points with. The Foxes lost 3-2 to Chelsea in their previous fixture and haven’t picked up any points in their last two games.
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