Arsenal youngsters destroy Sheffield United (*Exclusive pics*)

Arsenal’s youngsters were different class last night. Okay, the opposition wasn’t the greatest but the football was breath-taking at times. In the end, Sheffield United were lucky it was only 6-0 as it could have been much more.

Nicklas Bendtner got a brace, Carlos Vela grabbed a hat-trick and Jack Wilshere scored as well. Vela’s second goal was nothing short of magnificent. He flicked the ball over a deluded Chris Morgan and then beat Paddy Kenny with a delicate chip. Wilshere could have opened the scoring early on but elected to go for goal himself rather than pass to Bendtner who was in a better position.

All the players on show last night did well, with Vela arguably the pick of the bunch. I have to say I was impressed with Mark Randall who showed a good range of passing and Gavin Hoyte and Kieran Gibbs looked comfortable in possession.

Over 56,000 people were at the Emirates last night and many of them left with around seven minutes to go. By that point it was already 5-0 and the game was won but those who left early missed Vela’s hat-trick goal.

On 69 minutes, the Gunners made a triple substitution with Jay Simpson, Henri Lansbury and Francis Coquelin all coming on. Lansbury has played in the Carling Cup before, but for Simpson partiuclarly it was a long-awaited first-team debut. Jay had a couple of chances as well but couldn’t squeeze the ball past Paddy Kenny.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Emmanuel Frimpong and Abu Ogogo were all unused substitutes and whilst they didn’t get on they will have sampled the matchday atmosphere and it was a good experience for them just to be around the squad.

The draw for the Fourth Round of the competition takes place on Saturday, with Arsene Wenger re-iterating that he will keep faith with the same players no matter who the Gunners come up against.

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Arsenal quartet named in England under-19 squad for Euro Qualifiers

Four Arsenal players have been named in the England under-19s squad for the UEFA European u-19 Qualifiers which are scheduled to take place next month.

Striker Rhys Murphy, defender Gavin Hoyte as well as midfielders Henri Lansbury and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas are all in the squad having featured in the friendly victory over Holland earlier this month.

The Three Lions will take on Albania on October 8th, before facing Northern Ireland two days later. They finish off on the 13th of October against Serbia hoping to secure a place in the Elite qualification round.

The call-ups mean that all four players could miss the Reserves clash with Aston Villa at Underhill which is scheduled just two days before the Albania game. Murphy and Emmanuel-Thomas will both miss the under-18s trip to Fulham on October 11th and the quartet will also be ruled out for the second-string friendly against Norwich on October 14th.

We will of course be keeping you updated on the progress of all of the young Gunners whilst they are with the Three Lions.

In other news, the squad for tonight’s Carling Cup tie has been named. More on that tomorrow.

Arsenal youngsters set for Carling Cup chance

It’s that time of year again. Arsenal’s Carling Cup campaign kicks off tomorrow when the Gunners face Championship side Sheffield United at Emirates in the 3rd round of the competition. It is now commonplace for Arséne Wenger to field young players in these matches, but tomorrow could be the youngest ever side to represent the club.

First-team players that do not get regular starts are set to feature tomorrow, with the likes of Lukasz Fabianski, Alex Song, Nicklas Bendtner, Johan Djourou, Aaron Ramsey and Carlos Vela all set to feature. Jack Wilshere is also in line for a start having made his debut against Blackburn last week. Then, things start to get interesting. The likes of Mark Randall, Fran Merida and Kieran Gibbs all have experience of this competition and should start, whilst the likes of Abu Ogogo and Gavin Hoyte are also in contention.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas featured against Sevilla in pre-season and is likely to be involved at some point tomorrow but the real suprise is first-year scholar Emmanuel Frimpong who is in the squad tomorrow. Frimpong, who has been allocated the no.67 shirt, played for the under-18s whilst he was still a schoolboy but is yet to make his debut for the Reserves. Born on January 10, 1992, he will be unable to overtake Cesc Fabregas as the youngest player ever to represent the club if he features tomorrow.

The bench is likely to made up of more youngsters, with Vito Mannone, Henri Lansbury and Jay Simpson all hoping for a call-up. The new rule which enables seven substitutes to be named in the competition should provide an opportunity for more youngsters to sample the matchday atmosphere.

One of them, Mark Randall, has been talking to arsenal.com and was quick to point out that Arsenal do give English youngsters their chance.

Tomorrow’s game promises to be a memorable encounter for all involved and you can read full reaction and view exclusive photos on Wednesday afternoon.

Loan watch: Nordtveit makes first Salamanca start and Traoré’s Pompey are thrashed by City

Armand Traoré- Man.City 6 Portsmouth 0

Armand played the whole 90 minutes as Portsmouth were thrashed 6-0 by newly-rich Manchester City at Eastlands. What made the result even more suprising was the fact that there were six different scorers for City.

Confidence was high amongst the Pompey ranks after Harry Redknapp’s side had won their last two league games and followed it up with a win in the UEFA Cup over Guimares on Thursday, but today was just a step too far.

Jo got the ball rolling for City on 13 minutes after being set up by Robinho and Richard Dunne made it two just five minutes later. Pompey tried to get back into the game but former Arsenal men Sol Campbell and Lassana Diarra couldn’t make the most of their chances and then Papa Bouba Diop got his head to Traoré’s cross but knocked it wide.

The game was now becoming more physical with both sides guilty of commiting reckless challenges but City were gaining a foothold and cemented their lead when Jo’s ball found Robinho who drilled his shot into the bottom corner from 18 yards out. Shaun Wright-Phillips then added a fourth on 67 minutes after being played through by Ireland and then Wright-Phillips turned provider for sub Ched Evans who added a fifth. Another sub, Gelson Fernandes, made it 6-0 eight minutes from time but by now Pompey were demoralised and had nothing to play for.

If you look at the statistics then both sides had similar amounts of possession and it doesn’t take a genius to work out which side used their’s more wisely. Traoré didn’t have a good game but then neither did any of his team-mates.

Harry Redknapp will have a big job lifting his players after this heavy defeat and things don’t get any easier for Pompey, their next game is against Chelsea in the Carling Cup in midweek.

Håvard Nordtveit, Pedro Botelho- Girona 0 Salamanca 1

After being left on the bench last week, Håvard Nordtveit made his first start for Salamanca as they travelled to face Girona. His Arsenal team-mate Pedro Botelho was left out of the squad

Håvard found himself in the unfamiliar position of central midfield alongside Spaniard Cristian Bustos. Salamanca were playing a 4-4-1-1 formation and Nordtveit struggled to adapt early on and found the physical aspect of the game hard to cope with.

Salamanca pushed forward and had a penalty appeal turned down. Meanwhile, Nordtveit was becoming more involved in the game and was booked for a crunching challenge in the first-half.

The two sides went into the break all square at 0-0.

The second half was a scrappy affair as both sides pushed for the decisive goal. Salamanca’s goalkeeper Alberto looked badly injured at one stage but in the end he was okay to carry on.

Håvard was replaced 12 minutes from time by Jorge Alonso and, considering he was playing out of position, can take some heart from this performance. He certainly has the technical ability to play in the centre and has a decent passing range but seemed to be lacking fitness today and found it difficult to keep up with the pace of the game.

Håvard watched on from the bench as his team-mates piled pressure on the Girona goal and they got it nine minutes from time with Isaac on target for the Union.

Because of the earlier injury to Alberto, Salamanca had to endure five minutes of stoppage time but they held on for the victory.

Arsenal under-18s go down to Reading

Steve Bould’s Arsenal under-18s side suffered their first defeat of the season this morning after going down 3-2 to a strong Reading side.

The Gunners were the early pacesetters in Group A after winning their first three matches but some poor defending by Anton Blackwood allowed Coventry to nick a late equaliser last week.

Bould rung the changes with Blackwood amongst those being dropped. In fact the changes were so thorough that only two players who started last weeks draw with Coventry kept their places- Cedric Evina and captain Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. Sanchez Watt and Emmanuel Frimpong shook of knocks to start with Conor Henderson missing out through injury. The Gunners also took advantage of the rule that enables you to field an under-19 goalkeeper- with Wojciech Szczesny coming in. Six of the eight first-year scholars started the game as Bould looked to give more players a chance.

—————————–SZCZESNY——————–

—–OBED—–NICHOLAS——————–CRUISE—–EVINA

—–BYLES—-FRIMPONG——————-RASMUSSEN—THOMAS (c)

————-DEACON———————WATT————

Arsenal went behind to the Royals but a well-worked passing regime culminated in Roarie Deacon grabbing his first goal at this level. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas put Arsenal ahead but the lead didn’t last long as the Royals fought back to win 3-2.

Next week the young Gunners face another tricky away trip with West Ham lying in wait for Steve Bould’s side. The Hammers possess ex-Arsenal striker Ahmed Abdulla in their ranks but have only amassed six points from five matches so far.

Results elsewhere mean that despite this defeat the Gunners still remain on top of Group A but if results like this become a normality then they won’t remain there for much longer.

Loan watch: Win for Gilbert, draw for Barazite

Nacer Barazite- Derby County 1 Cardiff City 1

After playing the whole game against Swansea in midweek, Nacer retained his place in the Derby starting XI as the Rams took on Cardiff City at Pride Park.

Starting on the right-wing, Nacer had a decent first-half although he didn’t see the ball as much as he would of liked. However, he was charged with taking set-pieces for the Rams and delivered some good crosses. Derby took the lead on the half hour mark through former West Brom man Martin Albrechsten.

The Rams managed to maintain their lead until the 69th minute, when Miles Addison brought down Joe Ledley in the penalty area. The referee showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot and up stepped Ross McCormack to pull Cardiff level.

The match ended in a draw but Barazite can once again be proud of his performance.

Kerrea Gilbert- Leyton Orient 1 Leicester City 3

Kerrea shook off an arm problem to force himself back in contention for the trip to Leyton Orient. Starting in his preferred position of right-back, the Hammersmith-born defender was the subject of some rough challenges from the opposition early on but soon had a smile back on his face after watching his team-mate Lloyd Dyer put the Foxes ahead on 11 minutes. Kerrea made several bombarding runs forward as Leicester searched for a second and had to be alert defensively as well and was on hand to block several Orient attempts. He even had a shot on goal himself as time ticked down towards the half-time interval but dragged his effort wide. Just as the Foxes thought they were going into the break a goal-up, Adam Chambers struck to draw Orient level on the stroke of half-time.

Both sides created chances in the second period with Matty Fryatt and Steve Howard coming close for the Foxes.

Kerrea was replaced by Jack Hobbs with eight minutes remaining and he watched from the sidelines as Leicester fought back to win the game with two goals in the dying moments of the game.

Matty Fryatt found the back of the net three minutes from the end and then Andy King sealed the win in stoppage time to put the Foxes back in the play-off places.

Armand Traoré- Man.City v Portsmouth (Sun)

Armand will be hoping to retain his starting berth on the left-wing for Pompey’s visit to Eastlands tomorrow.

Pedro Botelho, Havard Nordtveit- Girona v Salamanca (Sun)

After they were both left on the bench last week, Pedro and Havard will look to force their way into the Salamanca side for tomorrow’s visit to Girona.

Vincent van den Berg-Veendam 0 Zwolle 0

Vincent missed out again through illness as Zwolle were held to a 0-0 draw by BV Veendam last night.

Under-18s preview: Reading V Arsenal

Arsenal under-18s travel to Berkshire to take on Reading tomorrow looking to bounce back after the dissapointing 1-1 draw with Coventry last weekend.

Steve Bould was unhappy with the manner in which the Gunners allowed the Sky Blues to grab their equaliser after hesitancy from Anton Blackwood allowed Callum Wilson to score.

Nontheless, Arsenal still sit top of Group A, whilst tomorrow’s opponents Reading are still looking for their first win of the season with two draws and two defeats so far. But before you go thinking that it will be a walk in the park for the Gunners, remember that they needed a very late penalty from James Dunne to see off the Royals in this fixture last season.

In terms of team news, Conor Henderson picked up a nasty looking knee injury playing for the Reserves against Portsmouth and is set to miss out, whilst Sanchez Watt is still sidelined. Emmanuel Frimpong is a doubt but could be set for an early return.

———————-SHEA———————–

—EASTMOND—BLACKWOOD———-AYLING—-CRUISE

—SUNU——-FRIMPONG———–THOMAS (C)–EVINA

————–MURPHY————-FREEMAN——–

SUBS: DEACON, OBED, BYLES, NICHOLAS, RASMUSSEN.

Tomorrow’s game kicks off at 11am and a match report will be available later in the day.

Traoré helps Portsmouth to UEFA Cup win

Arsenal loanee Armand Traoré was in action this evening as Portsmouth won their first ever game in Europe with a 2-0 victory over Portuguese side Vitoria Guimares at Fratton Park in the UEFA Cup this evening.

With Jerome Thomas and Niko Kranjcar both still sidelined through injury, Traoré retained his started berth on the left-wing.

The opening stages were tense with the visitors adopting a cautious approach and preferring to sit back whilst Pompey enjoyed the majority of the possession.

Traoré was keen to make his mark on the game and on 13 minutes the Frenchman burst through the midfield and hit a shot on goal via a deflection.

Then, just five minutes later, Defoe was denied by a finger-tip save from Guimares ‘keeper Nilson and then Utaka rattled the post from the resulting corner.

Portsmouth were beginning to dominate but frustration was creeping in. This was underlined when Traoré smashed an ambitious effort wide a few minutes later.

The defensive assurances of left-back Belhadj behind him allowed Traoré the freedom to roam forward but he was finding it difficult to break down the opposition defence.

Portsmouth continued to press with ex-Arsenal man Diarra coming close. Then the Frenchman gave Pompey the lead after he cut inside, played a neat one-two with Defoe and slotted home with a cool finish. It was Pompey’s first goal in Europe and it was a deserved one given their first-half showing.

Harry Redknapp was urging his side to keep things tight at the back so it was to his disbelief that Pompey conceded a penalty just two minutes after going ahead.d Another former Gunner Sol Campbell was penalised after bringing down Roberto in the area.

Fajardo stepped up to take the penalty but he hit the bar after looking almost too-confident in his run up.

The half-time whistle blew, much to Pompey’s relief, and they went in at half-time a goal to the good.

Half time- Portsmouth 1 Guimares 0

Shortly after the break Pompey won a penalty of their own when Defoe was brought down by Moreno. The former Spurs man stepped up to take it himself but saw his effort denied by the ‘keeper who dived the right way and saved.

Portsmouth needed a second goal to cement their position in the game and the frustration was building. Traoré was lucky to escape without a booking for a reckless challenge on Andrezinho.

He made amends soon after though showing great pace and providing a decent cross for Crouch who came close with a headed effort.

Then, five minutes later, he was involved in the build-up to the second Portsmouth goal. Armand showed good awareness to spot the run of Belhadj and rolled the ball into his colleague’s path. Belhadj hit a great cross into the box and Defoe was in the box to stab it home for 2-0 and make up for his earlier penalty miss.

Pompey then had to endure a couple of nervous spells as the Portuguese opposition attempted to grab a potentially vital away goal but they managed to survive until the end.

Traoré was subsituted in stoppage time and replaced by Hreidarsson as Pompey attempted to run down the clock and they will now take their two goal advantage to Portugal for the second leg in two weeks time.

Full time- Portsmouth 2 Guimares 0

Loan News- Barazite in action, Traoré hoping for UEFA Cup chance

Nacer Barazite played the whole game last night as Derby were held to 1-1 draw by Swansea in the Championship last night. The Dutchman impressed on the wing as the Rams looked to build upon their victory over Sheffield United last weekend. In the end they only got a draw and are currently just one point above the relegation zone.

Meanwhile another Arsenal loanee, Armand Traoré, will be hoping to start for Portsmouth tomorrow evening when they kick off their UEFA Cup campaign at home to Portuguese side Victoria Guimares. There have been rumours in the past few days about Pompey making his loan move a permanent one in the January transfer window but for now he will be fully concentrated on giving his all whenever he gets a chance.

Simpson goal secures hard-earned victory for Arsenal Reserves over Portsmouth

A Jay Simpson penalty fifteen minutes from time gave Arsenal reserves a 1-0 victory over their Portsmouth counterparts at Havant & Waterloovile’s Westleigh Park this evening despite a frustrating first half performance from the Gunners. Read on for a full match report.

Neil Banfield made three changes from the side that lost 3-2 to Chelsea in the opening game of the season. Vito Mannone replaced Wojciech Szczesny in goal, whilst James Dunne and Henri Lansbury came in for Francis Coquelin and Jack Wilshere.

Portsmouth named a strong side including former Gunners striker Kanu and after a couple of half-chances for either side, David Nugent had the first real attacking opportunity of the game but hit shot was easily saved by Mannone.

Arsenal responded with Gibbs blasting a shot well wide after finding a lot of room on the left. There was a sense of impatience about the young Gunners and they seemed to want to fire in efforts on goal at every opportunity.

Pompey were threatening though and Ritchie tested Mannone before Kanu produced the first real moment of magic the game had to offer. After being played through by Djimi Traore, the lanky Nigerian turned Gunners captain Gavin Hoyte and fired a shot at goal but again Mannone was equal to it.

Arsenal had to wait almost half an hour for their first meaningful effort with Lansbury coming close after a neat passing move. That was more like it from Arsenal. Prior to that there seemed to be no width in their play and as a result a lack of opportunities for Neil Banfield’s side.

Pompey, meanwhile, were determined to end the half in style and began to rain down efforts on Mannone’s goal. Ritchie shot just wide and then Hoyte scrambled the ball away after a dangerous corner and Arsenal managed to escape with their clean sheet still in-tact at the break.

Half time- Portsmouth 0 Arsenal 0

Portsmouth continued to dominate at the start of the second half with Noe Pamarot glancing a header onto the post after Little’s free-kick before Ritchie forced Mannone into action again with a smart effort.

Just ten minutes into the second half Arsenal made their first change. James Dunne was still feeling the effects of a groin injury picked up in the first-half and was replaced by Paul Rodgers with Abu Ogogo pushing into midfield.

Arsenal were beginning to come to life and Randall, in similar fashion to his goal against Chelsea, went on another mazy run but this time there was no end product.

Another chance came soon after when Vito Mannone’s long punt down field found the ball at the feet of Jay Simpson who was one on one with Ashdown but couldn’t put it past him. Merida then smashed a free-kick against the bar.

At the other end Mannone had to make a splendid save from Mveumba but the rest of the game belonged to Arsenal.

Rene Steer came on for Lansbury on 73 minutes, resulting in Kieran Gibbs moving into midfield.

Then, on 76 minutes, Arsenal’s big break came when the Gunners were awarded a penalty after Simpson was brought down by Ashdown in the penalty area. Jay stepped up to take it himself and converted with a cool finish, slotting the ball neatly into the bottom left hand corner. He had a poor game overall but his goal made up for it.

Arsenal looked to run the clock down after the goal and Conor Henderson replaced Gibbs for his Reserve debut. He almost had an insant impact too, firing a shot just wide.

The Gunners managed to escape from Westleigh Park with their clean sheet still intact and held on for the win despite some nervy moments. What made it even more special was the fact that they were forced to play with ten men for the last five minutes or so after an injury to Henderson.

The performance may not have been pretty but if Neil Banfield’s side can learn to grind out results like this when needed then it will stand them in good stead for the future.

Full time- Portsmouth 0 Arsenal 1