Arsenal’s Under 18’s continued their title push with a hard earned 4-2 win over Portsmouth yesterday in the completion of a re-arranged fixture. Cedric Evina, Roarie Deacon, Sam Byles and Oguzhan Ozykaup all scored in what proved to be a feisty encounter on the South Coast.
Captain Cedric Evina led by example and cracked home the opener with 20 minutes on the clock but instead of going on and doubling their lead, Portsmouth hit back. Lewis Stockford took advantage of poor defending to slot home and set up an interesting second half.
The Gunners snapped straight out of the traps in the second period and re-took the lead when Roarie Deacon ended his recent goal drought with a fine finish. Yet the hosts, who have had issues with their transport to and from games following the club’s money problems, showed amazing spirit. They got stuck in and James Jennings’ strike drew his side level.
The final 10 minutes were as frantic and as frenetic as you’re likely to see at this level. Arsenal used the pace to their advantage and finally managed to kill off their hosts. The unlikely savior? Sam Byles. The versatile defender bagged a rare goal before Dutchman Oguzhan Ozykaup put the final nail in the coffin, making it 4-2.
Elsewhere, Arsenal’s Under 16’s also dispatched of Portsmouth. New scholars Callum Webb and Jeffrey Monakana had given Steve Gatting’s boys the lead before Anthony Jeffrey grabbed his first at this level. However, the game was spoilt when Martin Angha was left with damaged medial ligaments following a horrible two-footed challenge. His Swiss team-mate Elton Monteiro replaced him for his debut, but let in two late goals.
Article By – J.Sanderson
great stuff j – how did angha do, and how bad is the injury?
Thanks mate. Angha has been really impressive, he’s settled in quickly and his passion and love for the club has really shown through. It seems a nasty one, further scans will show up how bad.
The same player injured Callum Webb earlier in the season, now he’s done Angha too. There’s some nasty players over at Pompey!
great coverage as usual J.
lots of discussion around CB candidates at the moment. particularly if we let gallas go (surely not). how do you rate savic? are there any other juniors close to joining?
Savic lacks pace which is an issue, especially as Gallas has bags of it. What I think will happen, is we will keep Gallas for another year or so while we bring somebody else on.
Bartley is impressing on loan, but we don’t really have an oustanding option who is ready for the first-team. Hence the short term signings of Campbell and Silvestre. Interesting points though.
Hi j ive heard nortdveit is playing dm on loan in germany do you think this is his future role?.
also what are your comments on the signing of chamakh?.
please email me sometime mjw88@live.co.uk
also whats up with sunu? 3 goals ? i went to the pre season friendly vs barnet and he was on the wing and i had known about him before the game but during it he was switching between the wings and i was like ” wow who is that kid” for the life of me i couldnt figure out who it was . it was sunu and he reminded me of henry alot. i see afobe and freeman are flying with goals 10 a peice.
who would u liken them to? ive heard people say afobe is like defoe and freeman a left footed owen but well whats your opinion?
thanks J. it makes the smalling strategy clearer and also the lack of a plan B for the time being. maybe there are options in france or s. america (i.e. scouted by grimandi or orlandelli) that will pop out of the woodwork.
J.- Havent they been saying that Gallas doesnt want a 1 year contract tho? If he didnt sign, it would seem for certain that a new center back would be coming in unless Djurou was back to his best. The others look to be just a bit to young to be a full time starter and Sylvestre a bit to old.
Angha sounds great & his love 4 the club is amazing
J, can you update the top scorers-list, please?
Shane – Wenger has said he would consider giving Gallas more than one year an extended contract – so don’t worry just yet.
Hopefully Djourou will come back from his injury lay off and be more than adequate back up to Gallas and Vermealen. I also think bartley will be a great CB for us for years to come oh and a future captain too while I am gettin ahead of myself!
How old is Angha?
Both Angha and Monteiro recently turned 16.
16 is maybe too young to play for the first team. Or what?
Haha. No it’s not, but he’s not ready to play in the first team yet. He’s yet to play for the Under 18’s!
we have many good young CB: Barley, Ayling, Miquel, Djourou…. Then, Who will stay with us and who will be out?
is Tom Cruise good? we have Gibbs, Traore, Botelho, Cruise. Who will be out?
I’m sorry if my English is not good :(
Your english is awesome man! :D
I think Djourou will have a great season next year. And I think maybe Silvestre leave us anfter the season. I dont know about Campbell.
after*
Maroune Chamakh is ready for Arsenal!
Bordeaux-president, Jean-Louis Triaud said that today!
Great signing! :D
Will Jack Wilshere be playing against Tottenham today? I sure hope so…
I agree with Hamid that Djourou will have a great season next year but… only if injury free. I rate him very highly from what I saw while he was playing.
What about Silvestre and Campbell i dont think they’ll be here next season. So in the summer we’re certainly looking after defender. What about Tim Cahill?
No. Wilshere is cup-tied.
After what I have seen, Cahill is a striker.
lol, sorry. Gary of course. My mistake..
Gary Cahill looks good :D
What is the Pompey player’s name, the one who lunged in and injured two players?
check out the new kit lads – http://soccerlens.com/shirts/leak-arsenal-1011-home-shirt/5696/
@ hamid: link?
uncle mike, nordtveit is not likely to get that many more starts as a DM because of two issues:
1) he hasn’t been that good in that role
2) the new trainer has benched him a few times already.
Im loving this site im a big fan of arsenal youth program! We do need some defenders i do feel bartley will be good but i saw him at champions league n he was lacking composer! But we have one defender on loan at celta viga is he any good?
Arsenal4ever: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2852098/Marouane-Chamakh-agrees-to-join-Arsenal-in-the-summer.html
He has signed a five years deal :D
Hopefully he will play well for us.
J , what do you think of Chamakh, will he play well for us, or is it a 50/50 signing?
Chamakh scored against St.Etienne yesterday.
By the way, what happened to the leaked photo article?
Chamakh also gave up a penalty kick with a handball.
come on HAmid!!! The Sun?? But even the Sunday Express has reported we have agreed to sign him!! Hopefully Wenger is going for either Dzeko or Villa, too. We need cover for RVP as I am not sure about his fitness. Hope also the Felliani rumours are true. Cant wait for Wellington :-)!!! I am so excited about this lad.
These are both huge wins. This looks like the young cats are progressing quite well.http://defutebol.net
Cant wait 4 wellington either!
yeahh Wellington will be our own “real” Ronaldo!!!! :-)
BTW does anyone know when Vela is back? Each time he is on the field he does something special!!
What do you think of a future front line that includes wellington and afobe?
Im really hoping rhys gets injury free i rate him very highly.
Who do you think are our best 3 strikers or will be our best 3 strikers?
would be great of course. Hope also Vela will mark his name. I am glad Afobe turned down Barca!! J. do you know if he already signed proffesional ferms? Our best 3 should be Vela ( in future ), RVP ( if injury free ) and hopefully Theo. Come on give the lad time he has something special in him.
from the youngsters didnt see that much but I think Freeman and Afobe for me!!
Im confident he will fit in great. Ive seen quite alot of him and he looks an Arsenal player. He has great movement and passing. On top of that hes strong, fast, skillfull and a great header. He could do us alot of good considering hes for free. Im not denying Dzeko or Villa is a notch better but he has quality.
Sorry for my bad english. Hope you get it.
Imagine a strike force with Wellington Afobe (maybe even Lukaku or Sanmi or Babacar)
Thats mean.
who is sanmi?
If Vela and Walcott reach their greatest levels, that would be devastating for all opposition defences
Anyone following the chelsea vs Arsenal reserve match? Info please?
freemans jus scored
Anyone found a stream for this? It is live on Chelsea TV, but i cant find a working stream.
Will eastmond be in the porto squad. He doesn’t play for the reserves tonight.
As at now its 1-2, matic, freeman and sunu
Arsenal4ever: I don’t know if you can french, but Bordeaux-president, Jean-Louis Triaud, said that Maroune Chamakh will join Arsenal in the summer.
He said that to a exlusiv interview with Mirror Sport.
Chamakh signed a five years deal on a fee on £50,000 per week.
I think it is weird how people are talking about players like Afobe, Freeman and these other 16 year olds as the future frontline more then Carlos Vela. When Carlos Vela was 16, he was leading the u17 world cup in goals. For me I think Vela is the player with the most potential amongst our young strikers. The Wellington kid looks like he could be an extremely huge talent too. If he developes physical, he looks like a top class talent. 2nd youngest player on Brazils u17 team.
Its not really weird.
For Vela we dont even need to talk about it, once he regains fitness and a tad bit more strength, thats it.
Whereas Afobe and Wellington need those 2 plus experience thus the emphasis is on their progress as we have not witnessed it as much as Velas, walcotts e.t.c
Was a great goal by Ozzie for the Under 18s. He had a really good game overall.
Is Sanmi Odelusi good?
Bedeuro keeps talking about him, hope he is.