Arsenal kicked off the brand new Reserves League South season this evening with a London Derby against a strong Chelsea side at Underhill.
Before kick off The Gunners were boosted with news that Kieran Gibbs and Mark Randall had both signed new four year contracts with the club, they celebrated the announcement with starts. Jay Simpson and Fran Mérida returned from loan spells to claim a starting birth alongside midfield maestro Jack Wilshere.
Chelsea boasted star striker Didier Drogba in attack, offering Kyle Bartley and new skipper Gavin Hoyte a firm challenge. 7 English boys made the starling lineup for Arsenal, with the bench made up of a further 5 home grown talents.
Szczesny
Ogogo – Bartley – G.Hoyte (c) – Gibbs
Wilshere – Coquelin – Randall – Mérida
Simpson – Fonte
Subs – Shea, Thomas, Rodgers, Murphy, Dunne.
Match Report – Arsenal 2-3 Chelsea
Jay Simpson and Rui Fonte kicked off the new campaign, in a season which Neil Banfield has once more challenged his young charges to mount a serious title challenge.
The Gunners made an instant impression as Mérida found Fonte on the edge of the box, but he failed to convert. Chelsea winger Scott Sinclair fizzed a shot off Ogogo for a corner in an instant response, before Miroslav Stoch worked Szczesny from range.
The decent size crowd were treated to a frantic start as both sides attempted to keep possession, but the competitive style meant this was almost impossible.
Simpson looked bright in attack, he chased and harrowed the nervous Chelsea back line, eventually forcing a foul on the edge of the box. Fran lined up a curling shot, but saw his effort deflect off the wall. Chelsea looked dangerous on the attack, with van Aanholt catching Ogogo cold down the left, until a fantastic recovering tackle from the former Fulham man stopped a certain cross.
But the visitors would then be punished for their attacking exploits. First Fran lashed at shot at Rhys Taylor, before Randall found Coquelin on the edge of the area, Francis stabbed it back to Mark in the box, he shifted beyond two Chelsea defenders before flicking inside the advancing Taylor from 6 yards.
A terrific piece of skill from Randall, and a perfect way to celebrate his brand new contract.
Goal – Mark Randall (10)
Sensing the opportunity to bag the second, Arsenal kept up their relentless attacking. Wilshere and Fonte combined on the ‘D’, the new number 19 attempted a deft chip but got his angles badly wrong. Coquelin then robbed Jacob Mellis in the centre, before the Frenchman came thundering forward to play Mérida in, but the Spanish play-maker crashed over.
Chelsea came back with two attacks, but were snuffed out by Szczesny and Ogogo. It seemed every time The Blues tried to hurt Arsenal, they hit back with full force. Rui Fonte proved this as he tricked his way past Bruma and curled a stinging drive off the post. Mérida then stung the palms of Taylor from range, it was total one-way traffic towards the visitors goal.
Francis Coquelin was superb in the middle, his non stop running power had helped dismantle the struggling Chelsea midfield, who found it a task just to play passes through the 17-year-old debutant.
Seth Ofori had no change out out of Gibbs, but Sinclair nearly punished the Gunners high line. His cross saw Drogba work Szczesny, but he parried the effort back to the winger. Scott lashed the ball back across the goal, and only a last ditch interception from Ogogo stopped the equaliser
Shocking defending from Kyle Bartley should have levelled the scores, but Arsenal’s number one Wojciech Szczesny had other ideas. First he rushed out to make a perfect challenge on Drogba, before Sinclair smashed one at the giant Pole, he again saved expertly. The hat-trick of saves was completed as he caught Sergio Tejera’s free kick. A truly exceptional start to the new campaign.
An elegant ‘Maradona’ turn from Randall helped ease pressure in the corner as Chelsea kicked on, Drogba bullied Bartley out the wing, allowing space for Sinclair, he lobbed Szczesny but also the frame of the goal. Tejera was then booked when he really should have been sent off for a wild swipe at Mark Randall, the Gunners starlet scrapped hard for possession, but the Spaniard didn’t like the manner and preceded to take a pop at Randall’s neck.
Any bad fortune for the lack of a red card was rewarded moments later – Ogogo appeared to shoulder charge Stoch to the floor, but the referee gave nothing.
Arsène Wenger was spotted watching on from the terraces, was he taking a break from signings? or preferring to bolster his squad with Reserve players? the next hours will tell.
With half time approaching Drogba had a firm chance to bear down on Szczesny’s goal, but Gavin Hoyte wanted the ball more and made an great tackle to dispossess the giant striker. However, the Ivory Coast forward would play a part in the equaliser, he barged Ogogo over down the right flank, a neat pass across the face of the goal found Tejera who slotted home.
The strike was rather contentious as there was a solid case for Sergio to have been sent off minute before, but the effort stood, and Chelsea were heading for the break level.
Goal – Sergio Tejera (42)
Half Time – Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea
The second period began with Banfield issuing clam to his players, the young Gunners were urged to keep the ball and look for a probing pass.
With just minutes of the half gone it should have been 2-1 to Chelsea as Tejera found Stoch 6 yards out, but the Slovak drilled his chance wide. A huge let off for the now complacent Reserves.
Jack Wilshere had a very quiet first half, but exploded into life with two delightful twists and turn down the right flank. But his passing was erratic at times as the previous high tempo fell away.
Randall was next to come close, a 25 yard free kick hit a hand in the wall and bounced off the cross bar, but Gavin Hoyte failed to finish the rebound.
With an hour on the clock the two danger men were withdrawn, Drogba and Tejera were replaced with Michael Woods and new signing Fabio Paim – who like Rui Fonte is on loan from Sporting Lisbon. Neil Banfield also shuffled his pack, James Dunne replacing Frenchman Francis Coquelin.
On 62 minutes Chelsea would snatch the lead, and it was the double substitution which would pay dividends. Paim’s 25 yard cross field ball found Stoch in acres of space on the left, he layed the ball across and Michael Woods tapped beyond Szczesny.
Goal – Michael Woods (62)
The second strike had really killed Arsenal, who now seemed lethargic and frustrated. Rui Fonte was lazy in attack, Fran Merida’s passes were not sticking, and the lack of a defensive midfielder left the Gunners exposed.
Seven minutes later it was game, set and match. Jacob Mellis darted into the area, Gibbs’ tackle only profited the ball for Scott Sinclair, he curled beyond Szczesny into the corner for 3-1.
Goal – Scott Sinclair (69)
A frustrated Gavin Hoyte lashed out at Stoch on the edge of the box, and the diminutive forward nearly punished him from the resulting free kick. Kyle Bartley performed well against Drogba, but when facing the pacy Paim and Stoch, he looked average. However, it was Bartley’s excellent passing range that offered the greatest chance of a conciliation effort.
Banfield was looking for a reaction for his boys, and he got one. Wilshere released Jay Simpson who was scathed down for a free kick, another certain red card that the referee let go. Bartley bullied the wall out of the way, and Rui Fonte curled a stunning effort perfectly into the corner. Game on.
Goal – Rui Fonte (77)
Mark Randall was then replaced by Rhys Murphy, and the true character of the boys came out as a fight back began. Simpson won a corner following an electric run down the right, but Wilshere wasted the chance to score.
A succession of further corners tested Chelsea’s defence, with Kyle Bartley nearly clipping home Dunne’s cross. Arsenal had there fight and belief back in there play, and in Rhys Murphy one of the best young strikers in the country. He tried to work an opening with Gibbs, but Chelsea were just holding on.
They managed to ride out the storm and Arsenal’s 7 game unbeaten run in the Reserves was over.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Great match, shame about the result.
Bartley was great
Juventus have snapped up teenage winger Falque Silva Yago from Barcelona on a four-year contract. We’ll not get him then.
Bartley was terrific, HOyte on the other hand..
Good performance in the 1st half. I watched Merida closes & even though you can see his attacking game, his getting back into position when he loses the ball leaves alot to be desired. May be we should have sent him to the championship as opposed to spanish 2nd division. The whole needs alot of work and Gibbs who will probably play in CC will also need alot of work on the training ground
And Anthony Annan has signed for Rosenborg!
I meant the whole defence
I said Chelsea had good young players
Coquelin was brilliant in 1st half.
Great passion from the boys, they kept going and never gave up.
can Bartley make it? how tall is he?
i thought we where very good simpson bartley where great ogogo and coquelin did very well and was pleased fonte scored still can’t beleive people wanted him to be released last month. But what are peoples views on dunne i thought he was awfull on and off the ball when he came on
Bartley is 185cm mate, around 6’2
In the 2nd half, the defence lost their composure and played too many long passes. PeteE, Bartley’s job is too attack the ball in the air and that part of his game is not there yet but he is still young.
surely bartley is taller?
He looked huge before fonte’s goal.. when he was blocking the wall
were was lansbury… and is ogogo better than rodgers!
Iago has signed for juventus
Is he only 6’2, he seems to tower above everyone else. Shame about the result but was impressed by the majority of the performance. At a high tempo we passed it really well but also got caught out a few times with our high line. Szczesney did well, without him it could have been more. And is it true that Arsene was asked whether he would buy and he said no?
ogogo will be played more than rodgers this season because i think his contract is up next summer so he needs to prove himself but he’ll need to put that mistake tonight behind him and earn a new contract
Well they did have a 1st team muscle man drogba playing for them! He’s been in a champions league final. pfft if he wasn’t playing we would have won!!!
It’s not how tall you are but how high you jump!
is it true or are we not gonna sign anyone
J any news on possible transfers. LEt it out bro.
if we are being honest we app have a beter reserve team than chelsea..so then y are we losn 2 em..and that was a strong team out there..all 4 players in mid, hoyte, gibbs, simpson have first team eperience..and chelsea well only had drogba who u cud say has first team experience..
Wenger seemed to leave Underhill early, and seemed like he was in a rush. I don’t know anything, but I would expect a player before the window shuts.
we will bring in 2 players before midnight–mark my words and to all the people who constantly choose to not believe me and hound me down when i make such statements—u can kiss my ARSENAL!!!
CUMON WENGER!! WE HAVE FAITH!!! WE KNOW U WILL SUPRISE US ALL-I NO VELOSO IS DEFINATLY ONE OF THE SIGNINGS BUT ALOSNSO IS ALSO VERY MUCH A PSSIBILITY STILL! RAFA BENITEZ IS QUOTED AS SAYING HE “THINKS” ALONSO WILL STAY….”THINKS” CUMON LADS WE ALL NO WOT MANAGERS MEAN WHEN THEY SAY THT!!
what the hell was drogba doing in the reserves team? Gaining match practice maybe , but he should not be playing there, he is too hot for any reserves defense to handle. In fact our first team defense also has problems keeping him quit.
Thanks J.
great work J because i was a bit alarmed at the fact wenger was at the match and not in the office wheeling and dealing lol!! it was all a front!!
lets all stay here online 2gether throught the night fellow fanz!! we no we’re signing people b4 midnight!! il giv it til the end of big brother to hear the name of the 1st deadline day signing!! shortly followed with news of the second!
I have faith T-Gully,
spread the gospel my friend. Any news on who we will sign?????????
chelsea fan in peace…bartley is definitely bigger than 6 2″. At least 6 4″ because he towers above drogba who is 6 1″ plus. I thought wilshire is a fantastic player, very talented. Paim looks talented, as does Merida, Stoch and Magnay. Youngsters impressed me tonight.
Defensively we look a bit poor but we have some quality attacking players.
it’s like dick advocaat said wenger is a cunning fox he will tell us one thing and do another so when he told that reporter he wouldn’t sign anyone he could be lying come on arsene sign somone doesn’t matter who but we’ll survive if not
#
I have faith T-Gully,
spread the gospel my friend. Any news on who we will sign?????????
Arsenehollis said this on September 1, 2008 at 8:39 pm
GOOD STUFF MATE AND SO YOU SHOULD!! I BELIEVE THE MIDFIELD MAN WILL DEFINATLY BE OUT OF ALONSO VELOSO AND BEFORE HE HAD SIGNED A NEW CONTRACT I WOULD HAVE SAID INLER ALSO! BUT!! I MUST SAY 1 MORE THING–I HAVE IT ON GOOD KNOWLEDGE THAT ASTON VILLA ARE CONSIDERING A BID FOR BARTON IN A MOVE WHICH WOULD SEE HIM REPLACING BARRY!! IF THIS HAPPENS I THINK WE’RE DEFINATLY THE 1ST OPTION CONSIDERING THE BITTER RELATIONSHIP WITH LIVERPOOL!
lassana diarra could be going to spurs what a prick we should have put a buy back price on his contract like real did with de la red imagine we got barry/alonso and veloso i like veloso becaus he covers CB aswell as CM and if needs be he can play at left back
just got back from the game tonight and was very disappointed with the arsenal second half performance, particularly in defence. played well in the first half but let our foot off the gas as we usually do. bartley and hoyte were very poor and wilshere, randall and simpson seemed to disappear as chelsea took control of the game. cant see many of these players pushing into the first team- seems like we’ll need to look abroad as we always do, though all of the top teams do so as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Veloso#International_career
BREAKING NEWS JUST SAW THIS!! THANKS T-GULLY!!
T-Gully good work. That Barton link looks reliable, Idiots though to sign him.
I think Barry is ours, if not then alonso. i prefer the spaniard, but either is good.
I’m brewing coffe and maning the look-outrs until well past midnight, remember they needed a 2 hour extension to sign Diarra.
Keep the lines open my friend.
hmm…as much as i want to believe this I no wikipedia is’nt the most reliable source..
Strong rumours circulating that Veloso is signing for Arsenal. Anyone else heard this ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Veloso#International_career
ye the transfer window can be exrended for medicals and finalising details so we are in for along night IN ARSENE WE TRUST
check veloso on wikipedia
good report. I thought the midfield lost control of the game in the middle part of the match. Not sure whether it was Randall who was getting overrun. his passing and movement was not quite there. dunne did little better but I thought coquelin looked good and when Merida joined dunne in the middle later on in the second half, we were able to gain control once more.
Bartley and Hoyte looked pretty good as did Szesney in goal who looks a really good prospect who I rate well above Mannone.
Wilshere was a bit out of due to lack of control further down the pitch. Fonte eventually stamped himself on the game and Simpson was also very good.
itz bullshit
when you think about the barton to villa story it may not happen because of his hearing with the FA so why would villa want a player who will be banned from playing
exactly
no no no no no no no no no…
you are winding yourselves up here and setting yourselves up for a fool. he wont sign ANYONE.
Getting back on topic it looks like both teams 1st and reserves could do with a decent defensive midfielder lol. Good game overall but defensive work needs to be improved in the first half we defended to low and in the second the was way to much space between the now very deep defence and very lazy midfield (Randall and Medria). Needs work but still only the first game of the season.
what does wenger say in his interview with arsenal.com about the signings i wouldn’t mind knowing
either villa or portsmouth will sign him (barton)
Ben get with the program dude, transfers are the story.
T-Gully what is that veloso wiki thing???
Villa might still sign Barton, just at a knock down price. Clubs are idiots like that, they see the talent, all the up-side, but inevitably it ends in tears. Look at Alardyce taking him to newcastle, same deal.
good game. that was by far the best ive seen fonte play- his general play was far more involved than usual and he was unlucky to hit the post in the 1st half.
JOHNNY – wenger is asked what the fans should expect. he says it is best to expect nothing then they wont be disapointed, but they might get a nice surprise. Coy as ever and non-commital. keep the faith though.
Why does Banfield distribute seafood to the team at half time?
It sounds like Fonte’s made a big improvement so far this season. Crafty bison, is that a joke or are you serious?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Arsene doesn’t sign a player but I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs some player we’ve never heard of. I would be surprised if we signed someone like Barry, Alonso or Veloso, but not disappointed:).
thanks arsenehollis i thought it a bit strange wenger would directly tell us anything
transfers are comingggg!!!! wenger’s such a father christmas aint e lol!! suprises ya…makez u w8 ryte 2 da last minit an den suprisez ya wid da present u really wanted!!
Veloso links even stronger. Any news on this, J ?
Fonte is looking to force his way into the Carling Cup reckoning. Was so average his first two seasons with our reserves. Dude looks like he’s put his game together and now become a lethal finisher. Wonderful freekick.
Also, Wilshere looked friggin awesome. A certain starter in the Carling Cup. What a wonderful player we have in our hands here…once he works on his right foot, he’ll be more complete than Messi. The kid’s awareness is already so good (which Messi still hasn’t developed)…in 2 years time, he’ll be classified as world class.
I thought Randall had a good game overall. His perfromance did tail off in the second half. Randall was even better than Merida who was poor by his standards.
SIgn Veloso and the premiership is ours
adam just tell wenger that
where can i see the highlights of the game..
The Veloso rumours all came from some quotes that were released months ago. there is nothing in it IMO
omg robinho is signing for man city in a 4o million euros deal!!
Great post nice to see Couqilin play well
I think the only player we might get is Mbia
(http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=845119) OH MY GOD!!
T-Gully father christmas is right.
Love the fergie kidnapped berba story, classic from the old drunk/
J.Sanderson – any transfer news dude, your sources are generally pretty good.
My man still thinks alonso is in the pipes/
ur man?
Yeah his boyfriend obviously, that’s why he said “HIS” man.
we will sign veloso. mark my words. done deal before 12 o clock.
we love you wenger!!
lol he also se he thinks his boyfriend has alonso in his “pipes” HAHAHAHAHAH sorry but thats just classic stuff HAHAH!!
Did he intentionally set it up like that. The comment was too good to be true.
Lets try and break the record amount of comments on here!!!!
Philippe Auclair – French journo – believes Arsenal will sign Alonso in the next hour.
hahah yep he sed alonso is already here m8!! lol in sumones bagpipes lol!!hahahah
I thought he just said an “amazing” player?
RMC suggests we will get an ‘exciting’ player before the deadline.
nah i think amaury biscoff’s story has the record amount of comments it broke 200
T-Gully, you are right, my boyfriend is actually very reliable – he writes for a local paper in north london. That is him on the left of the picture BTW.
Gooner Chris, is their a link for that?????????
RMC?
J.S. what is RMC??????????
Yeah J just said 225 is the record. well we’re gonna have to do better lol!!!
French Radio Station, they announced the Nasri thing
J exciting as in will improve the first or another prospewct for a season or 2 beacuse it will be another painful seaon if we dont win something
They are very very respected, and a respected French Journalist Philippe Auclair was on the show, and he mentioned we will sign an amazing player
I guarantee that all those that want the Veloso signing have hardly seen him play. Youtube clips don’t count. He doesn’t even start for his national team so the quoted figure is crazy.
At the most…8 million pounds.
Ah cool. All these flurry of rumours posted just now have me all wet imo.
Between Veloso or Alonso, I don’t really care one way or another. I’d love a new face in before the deadline though!
Xabi Alonso was one name mentioned on RMC, but it don’t believe it came from Auclair’s mouth.
improve 1st the team i meant to type
Is the deadline going to be pushed back some or will it stay at midnight?
Veloso is not gonna happen guys, he is too expensive and the news has only come from some old quotes.
looks like we wont get VELOSO HES PLAYIN 2NITE
WE WONT SIGN ANYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
closes at midnight mate
I haven’t really seen Veloso play so I couldn’t say whether hwe should sign him. However Man Utd were interested as are AC Miland and Juventus so he must have something.
Have you got a link for the Auclair thing ?