U21s: Arsenal 3-5 Aston Villa

Aston Villa recorded a thrilling 5-3 victory over Arsenal to boost their hopes of securing a play-off place in Premier League 2.

The Young Lions put in a superb display at Meadow Park to claim all three PL2 points in style, just 24 hours after Villa’s first team triumphed over the Gunners in north London.

Aidan Borland’s unfortunate own goal put the hosts ahead after eight minutes but Kyrie Pierre, Kobei Moore and Travis Patterson fired the visitors into a 3-1 lead at the break.

Pierre and Moore each found the net for a second time after the break to put Villa 5-1 ahead, before Ethan Nwaneri struck twice for Arsenal in the latter stages.

The emphatic victory comes just days after the club’s Under-21s reached the Birmingham Senior Cup final.

It leaves Josep Gombau’s side in 18^th place in the table, just one point outside the top 16 and a place in the play-offs with three league matches remaining.

The hosts opened the scoring on the counter-attack early on as Ismeal Kabia’s cut-back was deflected into his own net by Borland.

Villa grew into the game as the first half wore on and Rory Wilson was denied by a last-ditch challenge after some neat approach play.

And the visitors’ pressure finally paid off midway through the first half as Pierre’s close-range header at the back post levelled matters.

The Young Lions took the lead in the 39^th minute following a smart break down the left, Wilson playing through Moore and he applied a smart finish to beat Brian Okonkwo.

And there was still time for Villa to add a third before the interval, Patterson arriving at the back post to meet Pierre’s deep ball and head it across goal and into the net.

The Villans started the second half in the same fashion as they ended the first and neat build-up play between Borland, Patterson and Pierre resulted in the latter finishing well to put Villa into a commanding 4-1 lead with 47 minutes on the clock.

Goalkeeper James Wright produced a smart save to deny Kabia from distance just after the hour, while Nathan Butler-Oyedeji struck a post as the home side threatened to mount a comeback.

But a brilliant second from Moore in the 77^th minute established a four-goal lead, showing great initiative to find the net with his back to goal following Lamare Bogarde’s cushioned ball from Todd Alcock’s corner.

Yet the Gunners were not finished and Wright produced heroics to keep out substitute Ismail Oulad M’Hand before Nwaneri made it 5-2 from distance in the 87^th minute.

Wright was at it again to keep out Amario Cozier-Duberry before Nwaneri completed the scoring from close range deep into injury time, although it was Villa who claimed the spoils from a pulsating eight-goal encounter.