Jack Wilshere reflected on an eventful afternoon as we let go of a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Reading in the Under-18s Premier League at Bearwood Park on Saturday.
Goals on either side of half time from Omari Benjamin and Seb Ferdinand had us in a commanding lead. However, the Royals scored two quick-fire penalties to snatch a point from us.
In what was a fiesty afternoon, the hosts finished with nine men and we finished with ten as William Guiterrez Ramirez, Kiyan Smith and Seb Ferdinand were all sent off late on.
“I thought up until Reading scored, we were executing the gameplan flawlessly, but we let Reading back into the game. Once it was 2-0, our players might have felt that the game was over.
“We gave away two avoidable penalties and then the game’s different, the momentum is on their side but all in all, I thought we controlled the game.
“However, if you want to have a top career at Arsenal at the highest level we’re going to have to do it for the whole game.”
Despite only taking a point, Jack was impressed with the style of play which led to our two goals.
“The first goal was a beautiful move and even the second one there was brilliant build-up play involved throughout.
“I thought we arrived in so many dangerous areas a lot. We need to punish our opposition, finish our chances and score goals.
“However, if you don’t score it doesn’t matter. The game is decided in both boxes and we can talk about us doing well tactically, but it’s when you arrive in the box where we need to show more composure in making the right decision.”
Looking ahead to next week’s home fixture against Southampton, Jack’s looking forward to another opportunity.
“They’re a good side, with an impressive playing style but we’ll look at them, work out what they’re trying to do and how we can hurt them.
“We’re getting much better at how we respond and how we bounce back so I look forward to seeing how we perform next week.
“Today’s result feels like a loss as we were up by two goals but it’s business as usual now, back on the training pitch and preparing for Southampton.”
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