Our under-18s were beaten 3-2 by Tottenham Hotspur away from home in the U18 Premier League South on Saturday.
Spurs took the lead immediately when Callum Olusesi calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner in the opening minute.
Max Dowman struck wide of the near post as we looked for a response, before Harrison Dudziak pressed the goalkeeper and saw another effort go wide.
Jack Porter made a good save to deny Spurs a second following a curling effort from Yusuf Akhamrich, and our high press than allowed Chido Obi-Martin to go for goal from 20 yards out but it was deflected over the bar.
Dudziak and Obi-Martin had further efforts saved with half-time approaching and Michal Rosiak then saw a long-range strike go wide.
Archie Baptiste struck over the bar at the other end before Obi-Martin’s next effort was deflected for an Arsenal corner.
Still 1-0 to Spurs at the start of the second half, Obi-Martin hit the side netting before a corner was volleyed just over by William Sweet.
With half an hour to go, we were awarded a penalty. Osman Kamara drove into the box and was pushed from behind. Rosiak stepped up to take but Samual Archer made the save. He was again on hand to prevent Sweet from equalising with a header moments later.
But then we got another penalty, this time won by Dowman. Obi-Martin made no mistake, smashing it into the top left corner for 1-1.
It didn’t take long for us to take the lead, Rosiak making amends for his missed penalty by drilling the ball into the bottom ergot hand corner for 2-1.
Spurs equalised though with three minutes remaining, Damola Ajayi tapping in a cross from Akhamrich. The hosts then led again when an Akhamrich free-kick fell to Gabriel Willhoft-King, who tucked it into the bottom left corner for 3-2.
Dowman and Obi-Martin both came close to another equaliser late in stoppage time, but it was Spurs who emerged with the victory.
What it means
With one game to go, we’re third in the league with 44 points, two behind second-placed West Ham United and seven shy of leaders Chelsea, who both have two more games to play.
What’s next
Our under-18s end the season at home to Chelsea at 11am on Saturday, May 11.
Team news
Spurs XI: Archer, Hardy, Byfield (Orr 66), Akhamrich, Chaplin, Black, Willhoft-King, Williams-Barnett (Logan 83), Olusesi, Adewole (Lehane 69), Ajayi.
Substitutes not used: Warren, Egan-Riley.
Arsenal XI: Porter, Ibrahim, Sweet, Clarke, Ismail, Copley (Benjamin 73), Dudziak, Rosiak, Kamara, Dowman, Obi-Martin.
Substitutes not used: Ranson, Casey, Julienne, Annous.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.