Arsenal under-18s ended their season with a bang, as they drew 3-3 with Tottenham Hotspur in Frans De Kat’s last game as under-18 manager.
In what was a microcosm of Arsenal’s season, Eddie Nketiah’s superb hatrick looked set to give Arsenal all three points but a pair of calamitous own goals from Jordi Osei-Tutu allowed Spurs a share of the spoils.
This is a fixture that has traditionally been full of goals with 18 scored in the last three fixtures played between the sides at this level, so it was no surprise to see an early goal here. Savvas Mourgos was the architect, winning the ball in midfield and breaking forward. Quick footwork then allowed him to evade two defenders before slipping the ball into the path of Nketiah, whose clinical finish across the goalkeeper was indicative of a striker in red-hot form.
It is fair to say that full-back Jordi Osei-Tutu, has had a mixed season since his summer arrival from Reading, and his own goal just moments after Arsenal had taken the lead, highlighted this. Under pressure on the right touchline, Osei-Tutu attempted a back pass to his goalkeeper Hugo Keto. Unfortunately for him, Keto had strayed slightly from his goal and the ball crawled almost apologetically over the line.
If Arsenal’s defending was shambolic, their attacking play continued to be incisive. Midway through the first-half, Nathan Tella found Nketiah in the penalty area; there looked to be little danger, but he span away from a Spurs defender, before smashing a first-time finish into the far corner to restore Arsenal’s lead. Mourgos also hit the post before the interval.
Nketiah’s first two goals were both very good, but his third to complete his hatrick was the pick of the bunch. Picking up the ball on the edge of the area, he dummied to shoot, before picking out the top corner with a sublime curling effort- his 24th goal of the season. The only player who can realistically catch him as top scorer is Chelsea striker Ike Ugbo, who is on 22 goals but still has one game left to play.
A fine finish from Aramide Oteh brought Tottenham back into the game, before Osei-Tutu netted at the wrong end again, this time his misjudged header from a free-kick floated into the area leaving Keto helpless.
Despite letting the lead slip, the under-18’s still finish in fifth place in the second tier, above Tottenham for the first time in four years. This is a marked improvement from last season, where they finished eigth in the third tier, bottom of all the category A sides.
There is a big match for the under-21’s this evening at the Emirates as they take on Blackburn in their play-off semi-final. They will most likely be missing Donyell Malen, Marcus McGuane and Reiss Nelson who are all representing their countries at the Under-17 European Championship in Azerbaijan which kicks off on Thursday. However Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky, Calum Chambers and Serge Gnabry are all expected to start.
