U18 Report: Arsenal 4-0 Saints
Southampton's Under-18s fell to a 4-0 defeat at Arsenal in the Under-18s Premier League on Saturday.
Some good chances fell to Saints during their strongest spells of the game, but a hat-trick from Arsenal striker Chido Obi-Martin and second-half goal from Louis Zecevic-John saw the hosts confirmed as winners.
Saints had the first opportunity of the game when winger Sufianu Sillah Dibaga jinked past a challenge in the Arsenal area and poked a shot that was palmed away by Arsenal goalkeeper Noah Cooper.
The strong start from the visitors continued soon after when a steal of possession in the Arsenal half eventually led to Moses Sesay placing a shot through a crowd of bodies and narrowly wide.
Moses Sesay went close to scoring for Saints. (Photos: Craig Hobbs)
Arsenal’s first chance of the contest came from a corner, but Ayden Heaven’s header lacked the power or direction to trouble Saints keeper Dylan Moody.
After a quiet period of the first-half, Arsenal striker Chido Obi-Martin then found a space in the Saints defence to drive through and shoot, but his effort was saved comfortably once again.
However, the Gunners frontman was not to be denied for long and put the hosts ahead in the 38th minute when he produced a smart finish inside the near post.
Saints looked to respond, and Moses Sesay proved unfortunate to see his deflected shot loop just over shortly before half-time.
The beginning of the second-half saw Saints pushing to get their equaliser and good chances for Nick Oyekunle and Will Merry forced saves from Arsenal’s Noah Cooper.
Will Merry came close to pulling a goal back.
Despite this Arsenal, doubled their lead in the 59th minute when they robbed Saints of possession at the back and this led to Louis Zecevic-John having the simplest of finishes from close-range.
It was then 3-0 12 minutes later when Chido Obi-Martin found the net for the second time – his low shot creeping in via a deflection and the back post.
The striker was not done there though and duly completed his hat-trick late on when he fired the ball in powerfully at the near post.
Saints are in action again on Tuesday 26th September when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League Cup, with kick-off at 7pm.
Arsenal: Cooper, Nichols, Brown (Clairmont 76), Kacurri, Heaven, Rosiak (c), Zecevic-John (Dowman 68), Julienne (Lannin-Sweet 80), Obi-Martin, Oyetunde, Ismail.
Subs not used:Fedorushchenko.
Goals: Obi-Martin 38, 71, 85, Zecevic-John 59.
Yellow cards: Ismail, Julienne, Lannin-Sweet.
Saints: Moody, Okonola-Matthews, Moore, Dobson-Ventura (c) (Fry 61), Sheaf, Andrews, Sillah Dibaga (Pitts 45), Sesay (Daley 73), Oyekunle, Robinson, Merry.
Subs not used: Upstell, Bailey.
Yellow cards: Moore.
