After one win and one draw in their opening two EFL Trophy group games, Arsenal were well positioned to claim top spot with a victory over Colchester United on Tuesday night.
With Leyton Orient winning against MK Dons in the other game, even a draw might have been enough to progress as group runners-up if the Gunners won the subsequent penalty shootout – earning a bonus point.
Yet Mehmet Ali’s side instead slipped to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat.
In a match dominated by the hosts, Colchester took an early lead in the 16th minute as Tom Hopper tapped in a cut-back by Oscar Thorn.
The in-form Nathan Butler-Oyedeji perhaps had Arsenal’s best chance to equalise, as a driving run ended with a powerful shot, which was unfortunately straight at the goalkeeper.
But Colchester made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute as Harry John Anderson fired home with a low shot from inside a crowded penalty area.
Any hopes of a comeback were effectively put to bed in the 50th minute, as Mandela Egbo pounced on an error before calmly putting a third goal past Arsenal’s Brian Okonkwo.
The match ended 3-0, and Arsenal were duly eliminated from the competition, with Colchester and Leyton Orient progressing.
The result was eerily reminiscent of Arsenal’s FA Youth Cup match against Colchester United a few years ago.
A talented Arsenal batch including Reuell Walters, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Charlie Patino, Omari Hutchinson, and Amario Cozier-Duberry were considered by some to be among the favourites to win the entire competition.
Instead, they went to Colchester and lost 3-0 to be eliminated at the first opportunity.
The 2024/25 EFL Trophy been a bad competition for academy sides in general, with only Aston Villa’s u21s progressing to the knockout stages.
The u21 sides of Everton, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Fulham, Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Spurs, and West Ham have all gone out at the group stage.
But Arsenal will be particularly disappointed with how they slumped to their own exit.
“Really tough night, we’re really disappointed and deflated in there and rightly so,” head coach Ali said afterwards. “We made poor decisions, had too many giveaways in silly areas, but credit to our opponent.
“They played direct at times, made some passes and dropped off and deserved to win.
“The fans were outstanding tonight. We had 300-400 there and their support was amazing. I’ve just said to the lads in there we have to do more for them. We have to play better than we did. We need to go again and be ready for our next fixture.”
Arsenal u21 lineup vs Colchester United
Okonkwo, Nichols, Monlouis, Heaven, Quesada-Thorn, Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand, Gower, Ismail Oulad M’Hand, Kabia, Edwards, Butler-Oyedeji
Substitutes
Robinson (for Monlouis, 46), Dudziak (for Gower, 63), Rosiak (for Oulad M’Hand, 57), Ranson, Kamara, Forde, Sweet
What’s next?
With their participation in the EFL Trophy at an end, the focus for the u21s will turn to the Premier League 2. The team are next in action against Brighton on December 1st.
In the meantime, Arsenal have some behind-closed-doors games planned for the u21s to keep them ticking over.
