Palace’s young side were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal on Saturday, although the scoreline did not fully reflect an encouraging performance at Sobha Realty Training Centre. The visitors created several promising openings and enjoyed periods of control, but Arsenal were more clinical at key moments.
Raihaan Anderson came closest to an early Palace opener when his effort struck the crossbar, while Donte Martin also had the ball in the net after the interval before the goal was ruled out for handball. Arthur O’Keefe tested the Arsenal goalkeeper with a header, and AJ Greaves remained a consistent threat from the right flank.
Arsenal took the lead in the 31st minute when Jaden Maghoma’s pass released Emerson Nwaneri, who finished beyond Lucca Benetton. The Palace goalkeeper had already made an important save from Maghoma and later produced another excellent stop to keep the deficit to one before the interval.
Javier Alonso’s team continued to compete strongly after the restart, with Greaves delivering another dangerous ball across the face of goal and Palace pushing for an equaliser. The visitors were also denied by a tight offside decision when Martin appeared to time his run well, but Arsenal protected their advantage.
The hosts settled the contest eight minutes from time when Callan Hamill capitalised on a quick throw-in and scored from just outside the area. Palace were left frustrated after another improved display went unrewarded. The Young Eagles will aim to respond next Saturday when Fulham visit the Academy, with kick-off scheduled for 11:00 BST.
