Arsenal U19s 4 Napoli U19s 1: Young Gunners rely on Akpom and Lipman to seize control of Youth League group



The new found winning habit that has Arsenal sweeping all comers aside at home and abroad is seeping through the ranks.



The young Gunners are at it too, making light work of a disappointing Napoli to take charge of their UEFA Youth League group with two teenage English talents, Chuba Akpom and Austin Lipman, to the fore.



Akpom, 17, demonstrated nerves of steel a week ago to convert in a tension-filled shoot-out at West Bromwich in the Capital One Cup and was put on the spot again here.



No mistake: Chuba Akpom sweeps home his first goal of the night from the spot

Match facts

Arsenal: Deyan Iliev, Hector Bellerin, Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill, Jack Jebb, Stefan O’Connor, Isaac Hayden (c), Ainsley Maitland-Miles, Glen Kamara, Chuba Akpom, Alex Iwobi, Austin Lipman . Subs not used: Jamaal Raage, Ryan Huddart, Tarum Dawkins, Leander Siemann, Elliot Wright, Renny Smith, George Dobson .

Scorers: Akpom (penalty) 38, 79; Lipman 51, 53

Napoli: Nikita Contini Baranovsky, Michele Girardi, Armando Anastasio, Davide Schiavo (Aniello Esposito 56), Igor Michel Lasicki, Sebastiano Luperto, Gennaro Tutino (c), Mario Francesco Prezioso, Gerardo Rubino, Alfredo Bifulco (Andrea Mancini 56), Frank Liivak (Gianluca D’Auria 78). Subs not used: Umberto Scalese, Marco Supino, Giorgio Palumbo, Salvatore De Iorio.

Scorer: Rubino 67 .

Booked: Schiavo, Lasicki.

Attendance: 484.

The outcome was the same, at least initially - the goalkeeper nowhere near as the ball was rolled into the corner. Sadly, he couldn’t convert a second spot-kick opportunity in the second half, but then he is English after all.



He made amends with 10 minutes to go, tapping in from Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill’s left-wing cross, capping a fine personal display.



Lipman, his 18-year-old strike partner, must surely be the next to graduate into the fringes of Arsene Wenger’s first team and be in line for a League Cup outing.



He caused problems for the Italians all night and scored two excellent goals to put the game beyond their reach early in the second half.



The first was a perfectly-placed finish across goal after Hector Bellerin had persisted under heavy pressure and threaded through a pass. Credit to the official for waving play on when Akpom had been fouled in the build-up.



His goal had barely been acknowledged over the Meadow Park PA system when he collected a pass from Akpom, turned and curled an exquisite shot past Nikita Baranovsky for 3-0.



It wasn’t quite the blitz start of Wenger’s team 24 hours earlier, but it soon became clear that Arsenal’s direct approach and pace would cause problems for the Napoli defence.

On target: Austin Lipman of Arsenal (left) scores his team's second goal under pressure from Sebastiano Luperto

Even without Serge Gnabry, the man who scored twice in the 4-1 win in Marseille that opened Arsenal’s Youth League account a fortnight ago and who now has regular first-team duties, they were a handful.



Akpom showed his capabilities on 12 minutes when Lipman slotted him through the right channel. The angle was too tight, however, and he blazed wide.



Jack Jebb has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons this week as he faces a possible ban for alleged racist abuse, but he played without a care here. His free-kick from about 20 yards out drew a magnificently agile save from Baranovsky.



The breakthrough was increasingly inevitable as Arsenal stretched a lightweight Napoli defence. A quick-fire exchange between Bellerin and Lipman seven minutes before half-time picked the lock and the latter was hacked down by Armando Anastasio. Akpom made no mistake.

Class act: Akpom stole the show, scoring a brace at Meadow Park

Lipman’s second-half double settled the game, even if Akpom couldn’t repeat his penalty trick to make it four.



Napoli briefly rallied and skipper Gennaro Tutino, their best player, beat Ormonde-Ottewill in a foot race only to embarrassingly fire across a gaping goal. The linesman’s flag spared his blushes.



But moments later, Tutino surged forward again and put a cross on a plate for Gerardo Rubino to reduce the deficit from six yards.

