Arsenal under-21s coach Mehmet Ali expressed his frustration after his side’s second successive defeat, losing 5-2 to Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby on Saturday afternoon.
Despite racing to a two-goal first-half lead through Romari Forde and Michal Rosiak, Spurs mounted a remarkable second-half comeback to claim victory.
“We’re frustrated with how things turned out, especially after our first-half performance," Ali said. "We started the game very well and looked comfortable. We created opportunities, and although Spurs found their rhythm and moved the ball well, we stayed compact and organised. Our aggression paid off and we took advantage, scoring two goals. As the half progressed, we had even more chances to extend our lead—14 attempts with 6 on target in the first half alone."
Heading into the break 2-0 up, Ali was pleased with his side's position, but the second half told a different story.
"It was a game of two halves. Credit to Spurs—they came out with more fight. They were aggressive and we conceded some really poor goals, which was disappointing. They got crosses into the box and we didn’t deal with them properly. At 2-2, I felt we needed to be braver. I wanted the players to step up, but it just wasn’t good enough in the second half. Based on that performance, Spurs deserved the win."
Looking ahead, Ali stressed the importance of learning from the defeat to avoid similar second-half collapses in the future.
“The boys know they can play better, and as a coaching team, we’re disappointed. But that’s football—there’s always another game to put things right. The key is learning from this. You can’t dominate the first half and then fail to step up when the opponent raises their level. We need to take a good look at ourselves and go again."
As we shift our focus to the Bristol Street Motors Trophy and a match against MK Dons, Mehmet Ali emphasises the need to return to basics.