Report: Arsenal win opening EFL Trophy fixture 2-1 | OneFootball

The Arsenal u21s got off to a winning start in the EFL Trophy against Leyton Orient on Tuesday night, despite a late penalty scare.

Josh Robinson celebrates a goal for the Arsenal u21s (Photo via Arsenal.com)

The Arsenal u21 are in Group M of this year’s EFL Trophy, joining Colchester United, MK Dons, and Leyton Orient in the group stage. All three matches will be played away from home, as is standard for u21 teams in the competition.

Mehmet Ali’s side took on Leyton Orient on Tuesday, and they took a very early lead in unusual circumstances.

Arsenal’s Josh Robinson picked up the ball on the edge of his own box, racing up the pitch and attempting to play a through ball to Ismeal Kabia.

Orient goalkeeper Samuel Howes charged out of his box to meet the pass, attempting a clearance. But his kick fell straight back to Robinson, who found himself with an open goal.

The defender still had a lot to do from at least 40 yards out, but he hit the target for 1-0.

Mehmet Ali coaching the Arsenal u21s (Photo via Arsenal.com)

Daniel Happe equalised in the 26th minute, heading in a cross after Arsenal goalkeeper Brian Okonkwo misjudged the flight of the ball, but Arsenal retook the lead in the second half in a similar fashion to the first.

Once again, it was a quick counter-attack, with Elian Quesada-Thorn launching the ball down the pitch for Kabia to chase.

A poor touch from the Orient defender handed Kabia a chance to run through on goal, and with the goalkeeper out of position, the Arsenal man had an easy task to curl into the net.

The Arsenal u21s celebrate a goal (Photo via Arsenal Academy on Twitter)

Arsenal looked set to earn a hard-fought win until the dying seconds of the game, with the referee awarding a controversial penalty to Orient.

Substitute Cam’ron Ismail appeared to play the ball relatively cleanly before any contact with his opponent, but the referee judged it to be an infringement.

Fortunately, Orient’s Daniel Agyei fired his spot-kick over the bar, and Arsenal took all three points away from the fixture. The highlights are available here.

Arsenal u21 lineup vs Leyton Orient

Okonkwo, Robinson, Kacurri, Monlouis, Quesada-Thorn, S. Oulad M’Hand, Rosiak, Gower, Kabia, Butler-Oyedeji, Edwards

Substitutes

Dudziak (for Oulad M’Hand, 61), Ismail (for Quesada-Thorn, 75), Ferdinand (for Edwards, 84), Forde (for Kabia, 84), Ranson, Kamara, Annous

What’s next?

The Arsenal u21s will play the MK Dons on October 8th, and Colchester Uniteed on November 12th to complete the EFL Trophy group stage.

With two teams progressing from every group, the young Gunners have given themselves a great chance at progression if they can secure at least one more win.

Until then, the team will return to the Premier League 2, facing Stoke City after the international break on Saturday, September 21st at 14:00 BST.