On Friday the 18 year old Aaron Ramsey scored a goal worthy of winning any match as Wales U21s managed to pull off an impressive home win at the Liberty Stadium against a well drilled and talented Italian side. Arsenal’s young Welshman was named the Man of the Match after a very good performance capped by a goal of astonishing quality.

Rescieving the ball with his back to goal 30 yards out, he juggled before flicking the ball with his heel towards Simon Church. The Italian defender read the situation but could only head back to the onrushing Aaron Ramsey who took the ball expertly on his knee before volleying into the corner of the net leaving the goalkeeper no chance. Quiet in the 1st half, he grew into the match as he started to be given a free role in the centre of the pitch rather than out wide and should now be guaranteed a starting place for the senior side against Russia on Wednesday.

Robin Van Persie was the next Gunner to strike for his nation, and despite the strike not quite being on the same level as Ramseys effort it was a good finish by the Dutchman. Recieving the ball from a powerful cross by Elia Arsenal’s number 11 did excellently to control the ball before turning it high into the net on the half volley to double Holland’s lead.

The third Arsenal player to grab the headlines for his goalscoring exploits this week was Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner with another goal of real quality. A deep, inswinging cross from the left hand side was taken down by Bendtner on his chest first time, shrugging off his marker in the process before instinctively striking with his weaker left foot into the roff of the net on the half volley.

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Meanwhile there was still some action in red and white over the weekend, with Steve Bould’s brilliant Academy side notching up another win to their name as they start the season showing the same form that won the previous generation of players a double last year. The opposition were Birmingham City whose reserves were thrashed by their Arsenal counterparts earlier in the week. The score was closer on this occasion but Arsenal still came out on top with a 3-1 victory, England Youth Internationals Benik Afobe, Luke Freeman and Chuks Aneke all on target before Birmingham’s consolation goal. You can read a more in-depth report over at Arsenal Youth – http://arsenalyouth.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/u18s-report-birmingham-1-arsenal-3/

England 1 -0 Portugal

John Peacock named a much stronger team for this match, recalling many of the star talents in the England youth set up with the likes of Louis  Laing, Benik Afobe and Bruno Pilatos getting starts. Saido Berahino was rewarded for his two goals in the previous game by earning a start alongside Afobe in attack.

England could have fallen behind very early on in this fixture, Portugal producing an incisive move that ended with Sancadino Silva failing to beat Sam Johnstone one on one after good work by Esgaio bursting from midfield. England responded with a fairly tame effort from Saido Berahino after a brilliant turn just inside the box.

Despite a poor miss earlier on, Sancadino Silva looks like a very talented player on this showing with a mesmerising run and one two leaving him with a striking opportunity inside the area but from a difficult angle he curled just wide.

Manchester United’s Will Keane was next to spurn a chance, just clipping the crossbar with a powerful effort following a good cross and the starlet was in the thick of the action shortly afterwards too as a curled effort just went wide of the far post. Good work from Benik Afobe in the early stages of the second half gave Keane another chance to put England ahead but his side foot finish from the 6 yard box missed the target by inches.

That man Silva then cut inside dangerously before failing to get hold of his strike and Afobe should have scored with a volley from a deep cross but like Silva his connection was poor. Silva should also have converted moments later when he was teed up perfectly for a simple finish but he couldn’t find a way past the defenders on the line to give his country the lead.

The turning point in the game came when Chuks Aneke replaced Berahino and 13 minutes later the strong Arsenal
man produced a fantastic finish from 25 yards to win England the game. Those who bet online and had their money on England were in a celebratory mood.

The full fixture list for the England side:

26/08/09 – 7pm – England Vs Italy – Pirelli Stadium

28/08/09 – 7pm – England Vs Turkey – Sixfields Stadium

30/08/09 – 3pm – England Vs Portugal – Meadow Lane

It’s a strong side that has been named with several eye catching names to look out for in the future. Sunderland’s Louis Laing, Arsenal duo Chuks Aneke and Benik Afobe, Chelsea’s Josh McEachran and Liverpool’s Andre Wisdom have all been tipped for big things. The full 18 man team is below:

• Jack Butland (Birmingham City)

• Sam Johnstone (Manchester United)
• Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea)
• Luke Garbutt (Everton)
• Louis Laing (Sunderland)
• Bruno Pilatos (Middlesbrough)
• Jack Robinson (Liverpool)
• Tom Thorpe (Manchester United)
• Andre Wisdom (Liverpool)
• Chuks Aneke (Arsenal)
• Conor Coady (Liverpool)
• Josh McEachran (Chelsea)
• Ravel Morrison (Manchester United)
• George Thorne (West Brom)
• Benik Afobe (Arsenal)
• Jake Fowler (Middlesbrough)
• William Keane (Manchester United)
• Conor Wickham (Ipswich Town)