Arsenal’s Under-18s produced a remarkable north London derby victory on Saturday, beating Tottenham 2-1 at London Colney despite losing both of their goalkeepers to injury.
Mylo Bernard was the hero with two goals, including a spectacular winner in the seventh minute of stoppage time. But there was another unlikely star as Emerson Nwaneri, younger brother of Ethan, was forced to swap his outfield position for a place between the posts.
And somehow, the young Gunners still managed to beat their unbeaten north London rivals!
Mylo Bernard strikes twice as Arsenal fight back
Tottenham arrived at London Colney sitting top of the Under-18 Premier League South and had enjoyed an impressive start to the season.
They created several opportunities during the first half, but Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Talbot kept the visitors at bay.
Spurs eventually broke the deadlock five minutes after the restart through Joel Vidal-Philbert, but Arsenal responded almost immediately.
Bernard, who was among the young Arsenal players selected for England youth international duty, turned home Hakeem Abubakar’s delivery to level the scores just a minute later.
The visitors continued to threaten, with Talbot producing an excellent save from an Armend Muslika free-kick before the game took an extraordinary turn.
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Two injured goalkeepers and an unlikely Arsenal hero
Talbot was forced off following a collision and replaced by young goalkeeper Maximillian Lo Presti.
Unfortunately, Lo Presti also suffered an injury following another collision, leaving Arsenal without a recognised goalkeeper for the closing stages.
Up stepped Emerson Nwaneri!
The youngster, whose older brother Ethan is currently on loan at Borussia Dortmund, took the gloves as Arsenal desperately tried to hold on against their rivals.
According to Tottenham’s official match report, Spurs had enjoyed plenty of opportunities throughout the match, but they could not make their advantage count.
Then came an incredible finale.
Deep into stoppage time, Nwaneri launched a long free-kick forward, which eventually reached Luis Muñoz. The substitute found Bernard, who cut inside and smashed an unstoppable effort in off the crossbar.
Arsenal had won it in the 97th minute!
The result ended Tottenham’s unbeaten start to the campaign and moved Arsenal to within three points of their rivals in the league standings.
What makes this victory particularly satisfying is the character shown by the youngsters. Losing both goalkeepers could easily have ended their hopes of taking anything from the match, yet they somehow found a way to win.
A north London derby victory is always worth celebrating, but this one really was something special.
Could Mylo Bernard and Emerson Nwaneri be two more youngsters to keep an eye on at Arsenal? What a way to win a derby!
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