New Arsenal signing scores fantastic 1st goal for u21s
Winter Arsenal signing Evan Mooney scored a fantastic long-range effort for the Under-21s in a convincing win over Reading on Monday night, and he wasn’t the only youngster to impress.
Photo via Arsenal Academy on social media
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Arsenal completed the signing of Evan Mooney from St. Mirren earlier this month, completing the deal before the winter transfer deadline.
The 18-year-old striker joined Arsenal’s U21 team directly, featuring in a draw with Everton and a 1-0 win over Newcastle in recent weeks. But when the teenager scored his first goal for the club against Reading on Monday, he did it in style.
Collecting the ball in his own half, Mooney raced into Reading territory before unleashing a surprise shot from just outside the center circle. The Reading keeper was caught off guard and the shot flew past him into the net for 1-0.
Photo via Arsenal Academy on social media
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You won’t see many better first goals for Arsenal, and the good news is that this wasn’t the team’s last impressive result of the night.
Théo Julienne sparked an attack in the 54th minute with a clever turn into Arsenal’s defensive third, playing a one-two before finding Andre Harriman-Annous in space on the left. Harriman-Annous forced his man back before cutting inside and firing a strike into the far corner for 2-0.
Four minutes later it was three, Ceadach O’Neill volleying home a cross from Marcell Washington. The Gunners appeared to be hosting their own goal of the month competition.
Reading found a way back into the game with an emphatic finish from Jerae Jones in the 68th minute, but Philip Duah headed an Arsenal free-kick into his own net for 4-1 to kill off the game with 15 minutes remaining.
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Highlights are available here.
Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images
As well as the excellent goals, Arsenal produced some strong individual performances that evening.
As well as scoring, Harriman-Annous linked up well with new signing Mooney and drew a few bookings from Reading, while centre-back Marli Salmon produced a composed performance both in and out of possession.
O’Neill, 17, also continues to make his mark as a starter for the Under-21s, although he has featured largely for the Under-18s this season.
Photo via O’Neill on Instagram
But perhaps more importantly, Arsenal’s U21s as a unit are really coming into their own now after an embarrassing 7-0 defeat to Liverpool to kick off 2026.
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The team responded with a five-game unbeaten run, including four wins, and despite sitting in ninth place, Arsenal have closed the gap to the league lead to just eight points.
We can make excuses for the heavy defeat to Liverpool, with three players that day having left the club, several U18 debutants both in the starting line-up and off the bench, and the fact that the U21s hadn’t played a competitive match in two months (with Liverpool playing the previous week).
That said, the Gunners still had to react to this setback, and they are doing so.
Arsenal U21 Lineups vs Reading
Porter, Dixon, Clarke, Salmon, Washington, Ibrahim, Julienne, Agustien, Mooney, O’Neill, Harriman-Annous
Substitutes
Stevens (for Agustien, 79), Marciniak (for Harriman-Annous, 79), Ogunnaike (for Dixon, 83), Bailey-Joseph (for O’Neill, 87), Ranson