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ARSENAL: Friendly: Crawley Town 0-1 Reserves XI

/noticias.info/ MATCH REPORT
Pre-season Friendly
Broadfield Stadium
Saturday, July 26, 2008, 3pm

Crawley Town
Crawley Town
0


Arsenal Reserves XI
Arsenal Reserves XI
1

Gibbs 71

Arsenal's young stars put on mature and ultimately pleasing performance as they defeated Blue Square Premier outfit Crawley Town 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Midfielder Kieran Gibbs capped his return to Gunners' action - he has recently been on duty with England Under-19s - with the games only goal midway through the second half. It was just rewards of an assiduous afternoon's work.

As the senior squad looks set to rob the academy of some of its most prized possessions, the match was full of sparkling glimpses of the strength down the age groups. Second-half substitutes Emmanuel Frimpong, Thomas Cruise and Luke Ayling all produced a fine defensive cameo against a physical Crawley side.

Manager Steve Bould named, arguably, the strongest XI available to him, with the exception of Havard Nordtveit. The Norwegian defender was a late withdrawal and replaced by Jay Thomas. Gibbs and Nacer Barazite brought a splash of senior experience to a largely Under-18 side, but there were several second-string regulars in attendance.

Crawley provided the match's only player with a taste of the Premier League in the form of Isaiah Rankin. The one-time Gunner made his only appearance for Arsenal in a North London derby in 1997. Paolo Vernazza was another familiar face; he was named among the substitutes.

The hosts plundered over 100 goals last season and have strengthened their forward department over the summer month; their exciting new forward line hit Tottenham's youngsters for six earlier in the week. Crawley began today's game with similar ambition.

But Arsenal quickly had moments of their own. Sanchez Watt came close to sliding Gibbs through on goal, and Barazite's perseverance down the left almost paid the ultimate dividend for Rui Fonte. However, the Portuguese shot lacked the venom to trouble Simon Rayner in goal.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Crawley continued to cause problems. First Jamie Cook was thwarted by Paul Rodgers before the offside flag halted Rankin as he bore down on goal. Cook then wasted a glorious chance to hand the hosts the lead after 25 minutes, sending a free header over the bar from a matter of yards.

The Gunners response was warming - Fonte forced Rayner into a full-stretch save from distance and defender Kyle Bartley saw a header hacked off the line by Lewis Killeen.

Arsenal's passing game was starting to take centre-stage.

But for every chance created the Gunners had defensive duties in equal measure. Thomas Pinault reacted quickest to a loose ball and fired just wide, and Rene Steer made got a vital touch away from Rankin at the far post.

For all the goalmouth action though, neither goalkeeper had been overly busy. That all changed as the first half drew to a close. Barazite drew a smart stop at the near post from Rayner, and Fonte, too, had the stopper clamouring across his goal to palm a shot round the post.

At the break the sides were deadlocked.

Thomas' simple back-to-front pass just eluded substitute Rhys Murphy in a rare moment of excitement in a stagnant start to the second half. In fact it took until after the hour for the crowd to be roused. Then, Cruise and Murphy combined brilliantly down the left flank with the latter's surge into the box stopped at the last moment.

It was a prelude to a spell of Arsenal pressure.

Frimpong scuffed a free-kick from just outside the box, Fonte had another goal bound effort shut down, Rodgers headed wide and Cruise had his misguided cross fumbled onto the post. And there was more to come.

In the 71st minute Barazite, who had been a class above for much of the afternoon, raced into the area, slipped past two men and, as the angle narrowed, rolled in Gibbs at the far post to hand Arsenal a deserved lead.

Even with the advantage attained it was the visitors who looked most likely to trouble the scorers again as Thomas fizzed an effort just over from all of 25 yards.

It was his final act before being withdrawn, and was similarly the last real chance of the match for either side.

Crawley finished strongly, forcing Arsenal onto the back foot for a brief spell. However they failed to cause much consternation. notas_de_prensa_archivo