U21s report: Arsenal 2-3 Burnley

WHAT HAPPENED

We suffered a narrow defeat in our final Premier League Cup group game, losing 3-2 to Burnley at Meadow Park on Tuesday night.

In what was a much-changed side, we fell behind inside two minutes when Joe Wesley tapped home from close range for the visitors.

However, we hit back almost instantly through Josh Robinson, who reacted quickest in the box to finish after a scramble in the box.

We took the lead 10 minutes before the break when Catalin Cirjan drilled his low shot into the far corner after good work from Mauro Bandeira.

Burnley started to create opportunities and forced James Hillson into an unbelievable save, where he tipped a looping header over the bar.

However, the away side restored parity in the closing stages of the first half when Lewis caught Hillson out with a long-range effort.

We faced mounting pressure shortly after the restart and Hillson was once against forced into making a number of crucial saves to keep us level

The visitors’ wave of attacks would eventually pay off, as they retook the lead through Bradley Grant, who reacted quickest to slot home their third after the ball cannoned off the post.

We came close to drawing level just shy of the hour mark when Cirjan saw his effort go the wrong side of the post.

All five substitutes were made as we pushed hard for an equaliser, but ultimately failed to break down the resistant Burnley defence.

WHAT IT MEANS

Heading into the knockout stages, we finish top of Group G with 11 points, winning three, drawing two, and losing just one of our six games.

WHAT'S NEXT

We’re back in Premier League Cup action again on Friday, February 3 where we host Reading in the round of 16.

Kick-off at Meadow Park is at 7pm (UK).

TEAM NEWS

Hillson (Cooper, 86), Rosiak (Nichols, 69), Robinson (Walters, 58), Jeffcott, Quamina, Lewis-Skelly, Bandeira, Cirjan (Gower, 69), Ferdinand, Lewis, Benjamin (Oyetunde, 76)