Magnificent Arsenal Winger Amaechi Proves A Handful For Villarreal Defenders

Arsenal scrapped through to the final of the Premier League International Cup after seeing off Villarreal on penalties in the semis following a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Nigerian youngsters in the ilk of Tolaji Bola and Xavier Amaechi started from the off for Arsenal while Folarin Balogun and Joseph Olowu were introduced in the 51st and 90th minutes respectively.

Tyreece John-Jules opened the floodgates barely eight minutes in, Amaechi heavily involved after his dipping cross was half cleared off the line only for the striker to prod home from the loose ball.

The Nigerian was yet again at it with his trickery for the second, twisting around to tee up Charlie Gilmour who was felled in the area, with Gilmour putting away the resultant spot kick after 19 minutes.

The young Gunners would eventually have to ride a scare as their Spanish opponents came roaring back with goals from Adrian Dalmau and Enric Franquesa in a splurge of first half goals.

Arsenal goalkeeper, Dejan Iliev denied Ruben Mesa during the shoot-out while Zechariah Medley held his nerves to send the Gunners to the competition's showpiece with the last spot kick.

With that outcome, Arsenal would contest the final game with either Musa Yahaya's Porto or Newcastle who trade tackles in the other semifinal fixture on Thursday.

Emmanuel Chinaza

Photo Credit : arsenal.com