Fulham 1-0 Arsenal – Reserves – Match Report

Arsenal Reserves extended their run of defeats to three games this evening after a youthful Gunners side lost 1-0 to a hugely experienced Fulham outfit at Motspur Park. Eddie Johnson’s second half penalty was the difference between the two.

With the majority of the first choice Reserve squad with the first-team in Greece, Neil Banfield selected an inexperienced lineup including a selection of debutants. Sead Hajrovic, Daniel Boateng and Chuks Aneke all made their first starts at this level while the bench was made up of Under 18 regulars. Fulham’s outfit was the complete opposite of their visitors with full internationals in the form of Bjørn-Helge Riise, Kagisho Dikgacoi, Seol Ki-Hyeon, Eddie Johnson and Andranik Teymourian all starting.

Shea
Hajrovic – Boateng – Miquel – Evina
Aneke – Frimpong – Henderson
Deacon – Watt (c) – Freeman

Subs:- Dunn, Yennaris, Meade, Özyakup, Afobe.

Match Report – Fulham 1-0 Arsenal

Fulham kicked things off but before they could set their stall out and get going, an injury brought proceedings to a stop. Seol Ki-Hyeon would end up being replaced after limping off with a heavy knock on his ankle. Conor Henderson was a little slack in possession and as Ki-Hyeon skipped forward, Emmanuel Frimpong rushed in with a high and late challenge on the Korean. Two minutes of treatment followed before the game was finally restarted.

The hosts had early chances through Bjørn-Helge Riise with a free-kick and then Eddie Johnson with a header – early warnings for the Gunners. Banfield’s boys showed good character to bounce back with half-chances of their own. Chuks Aneke’s tame shot from the edge of the box asked questions of David Stockdale, Sanchez Watt then paced the back four but slipped as he tried to slot home from close range.

Arsenal would then go through a spell of dominating possession but twice Aneke’s final ball was cut out. The giant midfielder was pulling the strings in the middle but Fulham were reading everything well. The visitors were then caught cold by a lovely move involving Riise, Teymourian and Matthew Saunders, the latter forced Shea into a low save to keep the scores level.

Aneke was becoming prominent as half time approached. He first burst away from Dikgacoi and nearly squeezed a shot inside the post, then a delightful chip over the back four found Freeman, his header was just saved by Stockdale. Watt had two chances right on half time including a shaky claim for a penalty, but both came to nothing. Plenty of industry and endeavour, but no goals.

Half Time – Fulham 0-0 Arsenal

The second period got underway with Fulham looking to try and catch the Gunners cold. Johnson bullied his way inside Boateng and snapped a shot over while Teymourian dominated Henderson and was looking for holes in the back four. Hajrovic managed to help out with a couple of excellent tackles and the danger was cleared.

Freeman had a fantastic chance after being put through by Aneke but his touch was poor and the move came to an end. It was end-to-end but there was little quality in the final third from either side. Oğuzhan Özyakup replaced the tiring Aneke with 25 minutes left – could the Dutchman help inspire victory? time would tell.

Watt, Freeman and Boateng all had shots go wide before a moment of madness at the back handed Fulham a chance to win the game. Danny Boateng was clumsy in his own box and as Teymourian went up for a header, the defender smashed the Iranian to the floor a penalty was awarded. Eddie Johnson proved to be spot on from 12 yards, sending Shea the wrong way.

Goal – Eddie Johnson (77)(Penalty)

Michael Uwezu could and should have made it 2-0 but Shea made a smart save to keep the game in touch. Banfield switched the formation to 4-4-2 with 4 minutes left as Benik Afobe replaced Deacon and joined Watt up front. Afobe didn’t have time to make an impact and despite a large amount of stoppage time, the hosts held on to claim the points.

Article By – J.Sanderson

30 thoughts on “Fulham 1-0 Arsenal – Reserves – Match Report

  • December 8, 2009 at 8:58 pm
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    must admit, im very disapointed that we didnt see more of afobe.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 9:05 pm
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    Nice report.

    How would you rate Aneke’s performance out of 10? I think he could do a Wilshere soon and force his way through the ranks.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 9:22 pm
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    That was a decent performance from such a young side against a pretty experienced Fulham team. Aneke looked dangerous.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 9:35 pm
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    I would’ve said freeman was our best player was freeman by some way, then miquel was very impressive too. aneke was good, not amazing imo

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  • December 8, 2009 at 9:39 pm
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    Disappointed to see Dikgacoi playing in the reserves for Fulham. Being a South African, it’s not encouraging with the BBC article having him as the key player for SA at the world cup, and here he is in the Fulham reserves!

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  • December 8, 2009 at 9:49 pm
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    I really do like freeman i think hes going to be like david villa

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  • December 8, 2009 at 10:05 pm
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    Weard that Sunu is in greece, but watt isen’t.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 10:09 pm
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    Luke freeman did definitely look impressive, his ball holding and close control has come on alot. He seems to panic when through on goal in the second half tho, that composure should come in time.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 10:13 pm
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    Its seems to me that Wenger cant decide between Sunu and Watt and thus has given both a chance, Watt v City, Sunu tomorrow night.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 10:14 pm
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    Freeman and Aneke were the stars. The latter needs a bit more time but, and I hate to say it, but he looks like the next Patrick Vieira. Frimpong doesn’t have the class for me. Miguel, Haro and Boateng need more expereince but look the part.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 11:15 pm
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    First thing’s first, Aneke was head and shoulders above everyone on that pitch in a red shirt. Don’t know what game some of you lot watched. My personal ratings coming up.

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  • December 8, 2009 at 11:50 pm
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    Shea – 6.5 – Made a couple of decent saves. Poor distribution most of time denies him a higher rating.

    Hajrovic – 7 – Looks stiff but boy is he good in possession. The first real look i’ve had at him and he’s impressive. Very technical. I could see why Arsenal signed him. Made a couple of very good challenges too.

    Boateng – 4.5 – Very bad error for the concession of the penalty. Apart from that, he was very poor. Struggled to clear his lines on a few occasions and distribution was very poor too. Seemed uncomfortable at this level. Yes, he’s young and still has much to learn but he’ll probably go down the same route as Blackwood in being deemed not good enough.

    Miquel – 7.5 – One of our stars on the night. Made one dodgy error straight after the goal which let Uwezu (sp?) in for a great chance only to be foiled by Shea’s bravery. Apart from that, he was damn near brilliant.

    Evina – 4.5 – Along with Boateng, he was the worst Arsenal player on the night. He had a mare against Villa last time out and a mare tonight too. He won’t be around a lot longer i reckon. He has NEVER impressed me. I heard he was a great player when about 15 years old and big things were expected of him but i guess he’s just fallen off.

    Frimpong – 6 – I’ve always said it about this boy and i’ll say it again. All he is good at is tackling. He’s a brilliant tackler. Apart from that, he doesn’t have much else apart from pace and power. Very poor distribution playing in one of the positions that requires it the most. He has vision but very poor execution. Not good enough at the moment and no wonder he’s behind Coquelin and Eastmond right now. Only got a 6 because he fought til the end and worked really hard helping out on the defensive front.

    Henderson – 6 – I know he’s got a lot of fans amongst you guys but he just doesn’t do it for me. Yes, he’s got a sweet left peg and good passing but he’s tall and lightweight, gets bullied a lot and doesn’t tackle enough. He was non-existent in the first half, got the ball a bit more in the second but didn’t do anything of note.

    Aneke – 8 – Everything Arsenal did which caused Fulham problems while this kid was on the pitch came through him. Has a fantastic eye for a pass. Knows how to use his imposing frame to the best effect and works hard putting himself about. I think he should get much more of a lookin at this level from now on. Very impressive and i was pissed when NB withdrew him so early.

    Deacon – 5.5 – He was non-existent for the most part and didn’t do anything when he actually got the ball. Good runs off the ball but there was no threat there.

    Freeman – 7 – Should have been MOM but he lacks composure big-time this kid. I’ve said that about him for a while now. I love his fighting spirit. This kid will lose the ball and then win it back in under a second. Reminds me of Rooney without the class. He has definitely improved but needs to keep that up to stand any chance of having a future at Arsenal. I have the utmost faith that he will but he needs to calm down a bit. Tonight it seemed like we had the Tazmanian Devil out on the left wing at times. Nuff hype.

    Watt – 7 – He isn’t the most technical of players but boy does he have the most amazing attitude towards the game. Tonight, i was immensely impressed with his attitude. It was the night i thought we may see him do a ‘Randall’. You know, get demoted and then throw a strop and just not try, making it blatantly obvious that you just aren’t trying. Well done Sanchez. Should have had a couple of free-kicks that didn’t go his way but he never knows when he’s beaten. Got so pissed at Freeman at one point when he didn’t slip him in and just took a wild shot that went way off target. He really wanted a goal tonight. Like i just said, he never knows when he’s beaten, Could have done with a few with that attitude last week against Citeh.

    Ozzy – 5 – Great talent but couldn’t get involved too much. Pretty touches. You could see this kid is schooled in Holland.

    Afobe – 5 – Played for about 5 mins all in all and still came the closest to getting a goal for the red and white. That pretty much sums this kid up, he’s a goal machine. Probably should have scored although the ball might have been a bit too high for him.

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  • December 9, 2009 at 12:17 am
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    Hah, We so need to kepp Emmanuel Frimpong!

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  • December 9, 2009 at 12:23 am
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    Ozyakup must be worried when Frimpong, Henderson and Aneke all look ahead of him. I rate him higher than Henderson, hope he makes it although he hasn’t made it nearly far enough at this stage for him to justify expectations.

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  • December 9, 2009 at 1:12 am
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    Can’t believe Henderson is ahead of Ozyakup. Ozzy could actually make it, Henderson will be a Championship/bottom PL player at best.

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  • December 9, 2009 at 1:14 am
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    Nice ratings TJ DA GOON, but a bit harsh on Boateng and Evina? They wasn’t that bad, a 5.5 for each maybe.

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  • December 9, 2009 at 3:10 am
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    Maybe WEM but it annoys me so much that these lads can be at Arsenal for this long, where we work on our technical and passing game more than at other clubs, yet they fail to make the simplest of passes. There’s no excuse for it. I’m someone who also loves players that play with their brain. Decision-making, and things like that. I hate it when players give a pass to a team-mate who is already under pressure. It’s just plain stupid. They did that quite a lot in this game.

    Ozzy is much better than Henderson right now. The only logical explanation i have for the management’s decisions is that Conor is getting his chance to prove himself right now as there is a lot of comp in midfield at youth level at Arsenal. Ozzy’s time will come.

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  • December 9, 2009 at 3:48 am
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    John rating Freeman as a future David Villa? Interesting!TJ DA GOON says Freeman is a Rooney without the class? Rooney isn’t a class player man! Brute force? Yes! More like a boxer on a football pitch. I’d rather that Freeman develop into a Villa rather than a Rooney!

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  • December 9, 2009 at 9:20 am
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    What is wrong with ppl id rather have henderson coming through than ozzy. Like i said the more british players come through the better for us cause british players have a good loyalty to the club.

    Henderson is talented but he needs to get ver his injury problems.

    Luke freeman he really does remind me of a david villa, short, stocky, quick, quickt feet and lethal finisher

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  • December 9, 2009 at 9:21 am
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    i was surprised watching afobe not starting.i think he is not that highly rated in eyes of wenger.
    what u guys think,who will be the first one in this squad to make it to arsenal team??
    i have high hopes for aneke,miguel and ozzy.

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  • December 9, 2009 at 10:04 am
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    Pedantic I know, but Conor Henderson plays for the Republice of Ireland – and we are NOT British !! But get your point :-)

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  • December 9, 2009 at 1:36 pm
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    @TJ DA GOON “I’ve always said it about this boy and i’ll say it again. All he is good at is tackling. He’s a brilliant tackler. Apart from that, he doesn’t have much else apart from pace and power.”

    So he’s only got pace, power and tackling? Oh what a shame!

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  • December 9, 2009 at 2:06 pm
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    the match changer was the penalty. So other than that Arsenal did pretty well.

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  • December 9, 2009 at 4:10 pm
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    I only watched the 1st half but Aneke’s vision and thru balls was excellent.

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  • December 9, 2009 at 6:31 pm
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    Phil D – What’s the point of all that if you don’t have the mentality and technique to be a top player? The mental and technical side of the game is so underrated in this country it’s unbelievable. Why do you think the Germans and the Italians are so successful? They’ve got shit on lock. Frimpong can be a very good player someday but he needs to improve big time on these qualities.

    Kenyan Gunner – I aint one of these English people with blinkers on thinking Rooney is a World beater but he definitely has class. Very good first touch, vision, passing and flair. Everytime one of these guys come along who happen to be English, the media and the like start all the big talk cos we’re starved of these talents on these shores mate. They’re doing the same thing with JW right now.

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  • December 9, 2009 at 7:12 pm
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    I didn’t see the game. Disapointed about Deacon. he really impressed me at the beginning of the season.

    you’re a bit harsh on Frimpong TJ. I do pay great attention to the technical level, as I believe like you that it’s england’s main flaw, but he’s no that bad. he’s not a fabrice muamba for example!

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  • December 10, 2009 at 12:17 am
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    Na he’s no Muamba but he’s still very poor on that front mate.

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  • December 10, 2009 at 4:13 pm
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    John as usual you either didnt see the game or your blatant prejudice is blinding. Your anglos were the best players on the pitch and reminded you of David Villa funny bcos hes Spanish and you dont usually like black or foriegn players ? stick to Rooney whose background is Irish…oops

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