Match report- Lincoln 2 Arsenal XI 3- Ayling the hero as Cruise falters
An Arsenal XI got the better of Lincoln in a five-goal thriller at Sincil Bank this evening, with Luke Ayling getting the winner.
Shea
Boateng-Miquel-Ayling-Cruise
Watt-Coquelin-Thomas-Sunu
Simpson-Barazite
subs: McDermott, Obed, Henderson, Ozyakup, Freeman.
The Gunners had to deal with some early Imps pressure, with Miquel heading away Aaron Brown’s inswinging corner.
Arsenal soon got into their groove with Jay Simpson coming close following good work from Sanchez Watt. Nacer Barazite was next to try his luck with a drilled effort, but couldn’t direct his shot on target.
The two sides continued to exchange chances with Simpson having another effort saved before newly-signed professional James Shea was called into action at the other end.
Watt and Sunu had further opportunities, whilst Jay Emmanuel-Thomas almost cashed in with a speculative effort from all of 20 yards.
Barazite and Simpson wasted chances before Arsenal’s big break came in the 42nd minute.
Shea gathered a loose ball and released it quickly, finding Sunu, who burst forward with lightning speed, leaving Janos Kovas for dead. He then unleashed a stunning strike from 20 yards out to open the scoring and send the Gunners into the break as the happier side.
Neither side made any changes at the break, but Arsenal found themselves on the back foot in the opening stages of the second period during a period of sustained Lincoln pressure.
However, the Gunners responded by introuducing Conor Henderson and Oguzhan Ozyakup just before the hour mark.
The changes gave Arsenal added momentum, with Emmanuel-Thomas coming close before Arsenal made another change, with Luke Freeman replacing Simpson up front.
Shea had to make a series of superb stops to keep the score as it was, before Emmanuel-Thomas made it 2-0 with a neat finish.
However, the Imps were back in it when Aaron Brown’s free-kick floated past Shea. It was soon 2-2 when Chris Fagan bettered Sunu’s strike with a wonder-goal from 25 yards.
As time continued to tick on, Arsenal’s chances of a victory were fading. But, as night descended on Sincil Bank, Ozyakup floated in a corner and Ayling rose highest to score and cap off a great few days for the centre-back.
Thanks for the great report.
What did cruise do wrong
Cruise was repeatedly beaten for pace and out muscled. Miquel frequently had to come to his aid. Whilst Ayling will grab the headlines, Miquel gave a very mature and stylish performance for a 16 year old.
Yup, how did he falter? It’s in the headlines but nothing mentioned in the post.
Arsenal needs experience forward to replace adEbayor & an good defensive midfielder 2 mix with the few youth stars.From me dozzy.
Kyle Bartley and Frimpong were injured thats why they didnt play looks like arsenal are having a proper pre season this season. More first teamers will play.
Maybe lanbsury, merida will join up later after the tournament
Are all the players that played the ones that were left behind from our austrian training camp? If so, it doesn’t look good for simpson this season. I was hoping for him to make a breakthrough. full tilt poker rake back
I think its cause of the champions league arsenal will have a proper pre season looks like wenger knows arsenal cpould face someone difficult needs to get preparations right
The U-19s finish in August if they go to the finals so they will most of the games and will prob be given a rest.
I think some of the youth players will join after this game, e.g. Watt, Sunu, Coquelin, Frimpong and Bartley. They may (W, S, C) just have stayed behind to get playing time against Lincoln, then will head off after, because i can’t see why they would have taken Watt and Sunu off, even thought they were two of the most lively.