2 goals in 6 minutes seal Arsenal u18s opening day win | OneFootball

Subs came off the bench to score twice in the final six minutes as Arsenal U18s came from behind to beat Norwich 2-1 in their opening game of the season.

Adam Birchall’s side started well, with Alex Marciniak and Brando Bailey-Joseph both forcing early saves, but it was Norwich who struck first.

Finlay Corke reacted quickest after Jack Porter had saved a header from Sinclair-Brown, giving the home side the lead on 32 minutes.

Arsenal pressed but couldn’t break through before the break. After half-time, Norwich almost doubled their advantage through Finlay Oligbo, only for Porter to deny him, while Josiah King rattled the post at the other end.

The match changed when Birchall turned to his bench, sending on Ceadach O’Neill, Teshaun Murisa, and Hashi. The impact was immediate. Murisa picked out O’Neill in the 82nd minute, and the 17-year-old slotted home to level.

That set up a frantic finish. Two minutes from time O’Neill almost grabbed his second, but after his effort was saved, Hashi reacted fastest to fire home the rebound and complete the turnaround.

After the game, Birchall said, “I’m really pleased with the game, really pleased with the challenge that Norwich gave us today, it was something a bit different that we weren’t really expecting. We had a lot of the ball and at times we struggled to break them down and that was good, it meant that we could really work on our attacking play.

“Conceding early as well through a set piece in the first half meant that it became even more important that we used the ball well and credit to the boys, because they showed excellent mentality to get back into the game and stay calm.

“It’s hard as a young player when you’re playing against teams that drop into a low block a lot and the challenge was to try and get into the box a bit more with the ball and I thought we did that really well and the subs made an impact.”

About his subs, which won the game, he added, “As the game went on, it became clearer to the players and also to us as staff what needed to be done. I think from crosses generally we didn’t have enough threat in the box, from crosses outside the box.

“So the challenge really was to make sure that we’re trying to enter the box with the ball in different ways with our wide triangles, our wide players combining and I thought when they came on they really understood that and showed a lot of patience and technical quality to do it.

“The other thing is moments when Norwich would be dangerous in counter-attacking, it’s important that Teshaun when he came on that he managed those moments and helped the team with that and I thought he did that really well.”

Next up is Southampton at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Saturday.