U21 Premier League

Arsenal 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1

By Jeorge Bird at Underhill. Att: 2394.

Arsenal’s faint hopes of reaching the U21 Premier League play-offs were extinguished following a tempestuous North London Derby at Underhill, in which Tottenham Hotspur prevailed courtesy of a goal from Nabil Bentaleb early in the second-half.

In truth, Arsenal had been second best for much of the evening, with many of Steve Gatting’s contingent failing to operate to their full potential, whilst Tottenham, buoyed by their raucous set of supporters, dominated for much of the opening period. Chuba Akpom struck the crossbar in the second period, but the Gunners, despite the presence of first-team squad members Carl Jenkinson and Francis Coquelin, failed to muster a commendable performance.

Tottenham enjoyed much of the early possession, with Kenneth McEvoy crossing for the ever-lively Shaquile Coulthirst, whose shot was gathered by Damian Martinez. Akpom then shot just wide at the other end as a measure of response, with Tom Carroll doing likewise as the visitors began to assert themselves on proceedings.

Arsenal certainly had Martinez to thank for keeping Tottenham at bay in the first-half, with the Argentinian goalkeeper making several notable stops, including a particularly impressive one to deny Coulthirst. Cristian Ceballos also came close on two separate occasions, as the game threatened to complement the unusually vibrant atmosphere that greeted the fixture.

Arsenal did have their moments, with Jenkinson’s cross finding Serge Gnabry, but the German couldn’t execute an adequate finish, before Martinez had to make two further saves, from Ceballos and Coulthirst, before the half reached its conclusion.

He would be left stranded, however, almost immediately after the interval, when, with Arsenal’s defence dozing, Tottenham constructed a swift, passing move, with Bentaleb applying the finishing touch to score what proved to be the game’s solitary goal.

Ceballos and McEvoy almost inflicted further damage, before Jenkinson skied a free-kick horribly high into the North London sky. Gedion Zelalem had shown occasional flashes of brilliance, but was flagging by the hour mark, with the comparatively experienced Sanchez Watt replacing him.

The change seemed to provide Arsenal with some much-needed momentum, with Jernade Meade delivering a precise cross, which Akpom latched on to. The striker’s powerful header looked to be looping towards goal, but instead rattled the crossbar, with Gnabry squandering the re-bound.

Arsenal upped the tempo a little, with Akpom firing wide and Watt skewing over. Tottenham, meanwhile, had further chances to extend their lead, with Ceballos proving a particularly lively threat and, although the last chance fell to Akpom, Arsenal hadn’t really been deserved of taking something from this game.

Tottenham had already secured qualification for the end-of-season play-offs prior to this game, but staked their credentials for the title here, whilst Arsenal will play out their final two fixtures with no real target in sight. There were not too many positives to take from this evening, with Coquelin particularly wasteful in possession, whilst the team as a whole failed to provide much in the way of support for the hard-working Akpom.

Gatting will be hoping for better against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the penultimate game of the season next Tuesday.

Arsenal: (4-2-3-1)- Martinez; Jenkinson, Hajrovic, Hayden, Meade; Yennaris, Coquelin; Olsson, Zelalem (Watt, 63), Gnabry; Akpom. Not used: Shea, Eastmond, Bellerin, Monteiro.