FA Youth Cup- Villa 2 Arsenal 3- Thomas hits winner as Gunners come back to win
Arsenal u-18s twice came from behind to beat Aston Villa in the FA Youth Cup third round on a bitterly cold Birmingham night. Collins gave the hosts the lead, before Murphy levelled matters for the Gunners. Collins grabbed another before the break but Arsenal responded with Murphy equalising once more and Thomas firing in the winner 10 minutes from time.
Steve Bould called upon Henri Lansbury for the first-time this season, with Gilles Sunu shaking off a thigh problem to partner Murphy up front and Roarie Deacon dropping to the bench. There was no place in the squad for Luke Freeman who missed a guilt-edged chance against Charlton at the weekend.
——————————————-Shea————————–
——Eastmond——Bartley————————Ayling——-Cruise
—–Lansbury——-Coquelin———————-Frimpong—-Thomas (c)
————————Murphy———————–Sunu———————–
subs: Mann, Evina, Deacon, Blackwood, Watt.
Villa possessed highly rated youngsters Nathan Delfouneso, Harry Forrester and Nathan Baker in their starting line-up and Arsenal struggled to get going early on.
The Gunners went behind as early as the sixth minute when Villa’s left-back Dyer crossed the ball in, Shea caught it and then executed a weak punch which fell into the path of Collins who wasted no time in sticking the ball in the back of the net. Arsenal had been brought back down to earth and set to work on levelling matters immediately.
The hosts had further opportunities to enhance their lead, however, with Delfouneso and Baker looking threatening. At the other end, Arsenal forced Villa ‘keeper Devlin into a double save and then Rhys Murphy eventually beat him on 15 minutes to level matters and also continue his prolific scoring record at this level.
Sunu then came close to edging the Gunners in front, but it was Villa who would take the lead again before the break. England Youth international Forrester fed Collins, who grabbed his second goal of the game with a ferocious left-footed effort from the edge of the box.
It proved to be the final action of what had been a pulsating first-half.
Half time- Villa 2 Arsenal 1
As expected, Steve Bould was not happy at his side’s defending and the Gunners players appeared on the pitch early at the start of the second period.
There seemed to be a renewed determination about their play, with Thomas cutting in from the left but then lost his footing just when he was about to pull the trigger. The flamboyant captain then linked up well with Murphy before testing Devlin with a well-timed effort. You could sense the Arsenal equaliser was coming.
Murphy was then thwarted once more and, on 64 minutes, Bould made his first change of the night, bringing on Watt for the ineffective Sunu.
Frimpong was next to test Villa’s resistance with a powerful effort and Villa had their goalkeeper to thank for denying Murphy for the umpteenth time when he looked certain to score.
Ayling then saw his name go in to the book for a mis-timed challenge but just minutes later Murphy finally did level. Devlin had managed to block Sanchez Watt’s strike but was helpless to prevent Murphy from firing home the rebound.
The game looked to be heading towards extra-time when, with ten minutes to go, Murphy turned provider and Thomas fired home with his left foot for his second and Arsenal’s third.
The Gunners held on for an impressive victory against the odds and will now await the Fourth Round draw.
Full time- Villa 2 Arsenal 3
