Arsenal U21s continue 100% start to the season with 3-0 win over Blackburn

Terry Burton's side made it two wins from two for the Gunners in the reformatted U21 league. With the first Next Gen match of the year on Wednesday in mind, he made several changes from the team that beat Bolton the previous week, and this time decided to take advantage of the three over-age players rule, with Craig Eastmond and Sanchez Watt starting. Martin Angha came in at right back, and had a very good game, while Daniel Boateng partnered Ignasi Miquel at centre back. Chuba Akpom retained his place up front, but Kris Olsson was dropped to the bench and Serge Gnabry was not involved at all.

In truth, Blackburn offered very little in this game, and James Shea in the Arsenal goal barely had a save to make. Arsenal took the lead inside fifteen minutes through Sanchez Watt's clinical finish, after being played in by a defence splitting reverse ball by 19 year old Chuks Aneke.

The hosts were playing some good football, and were clearly far superior to their Blackburn counterparts. The Gunners' lead was almost doubled five minutes from half time, when Eastmond capitalised on an awful pass by the opposition defender and played in Watt. The forward unleashed a rasping effort which the goalkeeper did well to palm away, only for the ball to fall at the feet of Aneke who, with the goal at his mercy, had his shot miraculously cleared off the line by Blackburn's Raheem Henley.

On the brink of half time, however, Arsenal did double their advantage. Conor Henderson played a lovely ball inside the opposition full back to the onrushing Angha, whose cross was dummied by Akpom and fell to Thomas Eisfeld, who dispatched confidently. The German clearly has a natural instinct of being in the right place at the right time, and continues his fine goalscoring form.

The torrential weather conditions certainly contributed to the lacklustre second half, and there was little to get excited about. The atmosphere became subdued as news of Robin van P€r$i€'s goal for Manchester United filtered through, but the 5,600 fans had something to cheer about after 70 minutes, when Henderson's long range shot deflected past Urwin in the Blackburn goal.

The fact that sixteen year old Chuba Akpom retained his position up front, forcing Sanchez Watt out wide, is a clear indication of how highly Burton rates him. The forward did well today, playing to his strengths. He held it up, brought others into the game and worked tirelessly, while also threatening with a couple shots. It's only a matter of time before he scores his first competitive reserve goal.

Thomas Eisfeld did well too, again deployed on the right side of midfield. In addition to his goal, the German contributed to most dangerous Arsenal moves, and was at times very difficult to defend against, with his clever bursts of movement. Goalscoring midfielders are revered at The Arsenal, and just as Freddie Ljungberg bows out of the game, we can have another one to look forward to.

Martin Angha was impressive at right back, despite having little to defend against. He acted as an auxiliary attacker to great effect, with several overlapping runs and crosses, including one that led to Arsenal's second.

There's not much else to report really. Henderson did well, and Ebecilio impressed again after coming on as a substitute. Arsenal's U18 side drew 2-2 away to Blackburn, with Jon Toral scoring again, while the U16s drew 1-1.

Next up for Burton's men teenagers is Marseille on Wednesday, in the first game of the new Next Gen series - a match these youngsters will relish.

'Till next time.

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Report: Arsenal U21s 3-1 Bolton U21s

Terry Burton's U21 side played their first match in the reformatted reserve league against Bolton tonight.

After dominating much of the first half, Arsenal were dealt a major blow when goalkeeper Emi Martinez was deservedly shown a red card after bringing down Bolton's striker, who had just rounded him. The penalty was duly dispatched and the half finished 1-0 to the visitors.

Some Terry Burton words of wisdom must have done the trick at the interval, as his side came out almost rejuvenated in the second half, and didn't have to wait long for the equaliser.

Young German midfielder Thomas Eisfeld continued his impressive goalscoring record for the Gunners with a tap in after some tidy play between Serge Gnabry and Chuba Akpom - which resulted in the latter striking the woodwork.

Eisfeld seems to have a knack of being in the right place at the right time, as he showed tonight and also with his goals during the pre-season tour of Asia.

Conor Henderson then exhibited his expertise from dead ball situations, firstly with a superb free kick to make it 2-1, and then a thumping penalty to give the Gunners a two goal cushion.

The team showed tremendous character against a physical Bolton side, who had a man advantage for most of the game. Burton will be delighted with the response of his players after half time, and they obviously listened to what he had to say. Next up for the U21s is Blackburn on Saturday, which is also at The Emirates.

Player Focus (on most influential performers):

James Shea

The young goalkeeper was excellent after replacing Martinez in goal, at the expense of Kris Olsson. His first involvement was to pick the ball out the back of the net from a penalty but numerous impressive saves followed. Most notably, a double save Wojciech Szczsney would have been proud of. The ball was cut back to Bolton's striker and from no more than 10 yards out, shot straight at the keeper, who sprung to his feet instantly to block the rebound. First team goalkeeping coach Gerry Peyton will have been impressed.

Hector Bellerin

The Barca import played at right back today, and struggled defensively at times. He grew in confidence as the game progressed, however, offering more of an attacking threat. Having said that, he missed a glorious opportunity to give Arsenal the lead, after great work from Gnabry on the right. 

Nico Yennaris

Yennaris was deployed in central midfield, his natural position, and in my opinion was Arsenal's man of the match. Having performed for the first team on three occasions - including a match against Manchester United - Yennaris added real composure to the Arsenal midfield. 

He did the simple things excellently - which is easier said than done. He broke up play, distributed possession adroitly and made a couple bursting runs forward. For a man so small he is deceptively strong - particularly in his upper body, and was not afraid to put himself about. While most of the plaudits will be aimed at Conor Henderson and Serge Gnabry, I thought Yennaris delivered a stellar performance this evening. 

"He's so good to play with", says Chuba Akpom, "he works hard and plays simple football".

Conor Henderson

The fulcrum in the side, Henderson cemented his impressive performance with two goals from dead ball situations, most notably a curling free kick from 20 yards out. 

An excellent passer of the ball, my only criticism - which I have noted after watching him in all the reserves' pre season friendlies this year - is that he tries to force play too often, constantly searching for the killer ball. As the saying goes, "football is simple yet the hardest thing to do is playing simple football". Nonetheless, Henderson played well. 

Serge Gnabry

Another fine performance from the 17 year old German, whose bullish runs and deceptive trickery are becoming somewhat of a trademark. He displayed his dexterity as a winger with an excellent first time cross with his weaker left foot in the first half, followed by some great pieces of movement to spin in behind the opposing full back. 

The mouths of the 4,000+ Arsenal fans were watered after a scintillating piece of skill by Gnabry in the second half, where he rode a tackle and then, in the blink of an eye, turned magnificently past three defenders and delivered a dangerous cross. 

Thomas Eisfeld

Like his compatriot, Eisfeld impressed again, despite struggling to impose himself on the game in spells.  He demonstrated his tremendous technical ability on numerous occasions, for example a little burst of pace from midfield followed by a Fabregas-esq scooped through ball which almost created a goal for Akpom. 

Again, he tended to drift inside from his wide right position, suggesting he is most comfortable when operating centrally. He scored the equaliser and was one of Arsenal's most dangerous attackers, so will have impressed the onlooking Arsene Wenger. 

Chuba Akpom

As ever, 16 year old Akpom delivered an industrious performance, and deserved a goal. Despite several cynical fouls from behind, leaving his ankles "destroyed", the striker continued to hassle and harry, and displayed his willingness to run in behind.

In the opening stages, Akpom played a cute reverse ball into Gnabry and the German should have scored. But for a fine last ditch tackle from Bolton's Niall Maher, Akpom would have given Arsenal the lead, and was unlucky not to score later on after his shot hit the post - only for Eisfeld to convert the rebound.

Akpom played to his strengths and has made huge progress in the last couple months. Evidently, he is making a firm impression on Terry Burton.

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