Men's U18s come from behind to beat Arsenal

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Two second-half goals clinch 2-1 victory against ten-man Gunners.

2026-08-31T14:00+01:00

Daniel Rudin celebrates after scoring the winner against Arsenal on Saturday. 📷Simon Roe

Dan Rudin Albion’s men’s U18s returned to winning ways when they came from behind to beat ten-man Arsenal.

Trailing to a goal by Abraham Owusu-Gyasi, who found the bottom corner after 61 minutes, Carl Martin’s team hit back three minutes later when good work by Bode Newnham-Reeve set up Dan Rudin who fired home from just outside the box.

Albion won it six minutes from time when Raffaele Oppong, who had earlier been denied by Gunners’ keeper Jack Talbot made it 2-1 with a right-foot finish.

Arsenal had played with ten men since the 35th minute after Emerson Nwaneri was sent off for his second bookable offence.

Victory lifted Albion into seventh place in the Premier League U18s and delighted Martin.

Sliding in: Raffaele Oppong is pursued by his teammates after scoring Albion's late winner. 📷 Simon Roe

“I was really pleased with the performance. We started the game with good intensity, pressed well, and recovered the ball effectively,” he said.

“It was a fairly even match, though I feel we edged it in terms of possession and chances created particularly in the first half. After the sending off, we naturally controlled more of the ball, though we didn't create as much as we would have liked from that advantage.

“Going 1-0 down was against the run of play, but the players showed character and personality to stay focused and turn the game around.”