England U21 6 – 0 Azerbaijan U21
Henri Lansbury and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played starring roles as the England U21′s secured a very comfortable victory against Azerbaijan in their opening qualifying game for the 2013 European Championships in Israel.
Lansbury put in a man-of-the-match performance during which he scored 2 goals and made 2 assists, and Oxlade-Chamberlain was a constant threat with his fantastic runs down the wings. Lansbury opened his account on 21 minutes, latching onto a fantastic AOC cross with an acrobatic overhead kick. Both players contributed hugely in the opening stages of the game, helping England to a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Azerbaijan actually looked threatening at the beginning of the second half, but any chance of a comeback was quashed after another Oxlade-Chamberlain cross was punched away by the goalkeeper, but only made it as far as the edge of the area. Lansbury latched onto the loose ball, firing the ball into the goal with a half-volley.
During his post-match press conference Stuart Pierce (the England U21 manager) was full of praise for Lansbury:
“We saw a new, mature Henri in Denmark in the summer and he’s continued that. We asked him to deliver and he did.”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joined the club earlier in the summer from Southampton, and will no doubt have a huge impact on the Arsenal team in many seasons to come. Lansbury, who came through Arsenal’s youth academy, has move to West-Ham on a season-long loan, but we will continue to update you about his progress throughout the duration of the season.
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7 Comments
Nice to see that we have 2 off Englands most promise talents in our team. This is the future in our heartbreaking team…..
good that chamberlian is that gud. i just hop he comes out better than walcot for england and arsenal. up guns
Lansbury is good player but has not discover is best yet,Oxlade too need to adapt to arsenal quickly and make his mark
why have we sent lansbury on loan…he has more exper than some of the players we have at the club..really hope we bring him through, but there seems to be a lack of faith in him.. should have def started against utd last week …bit of heart for sure
Deano, Lansbury did not want to sign with us, and yet his contract has one year left. So I think we will never seem him again, he has some thing of Ashley Cole in him, but will be good. The real regret is that Arsenal will not get any money when he leaves.
did he not sign a new long term contract 18 months ago johnw? not 100% how long it was for but would imagine 4 or 5 years …l think wenger could turn this lad into a top top player..but if he leaves could see him doing a bentley (spurs fan after we cut him loose) or penant and never truly making it at at top…
i have always rated lansbury, hard, tough and heaaart and scores goals too. a typical refined english player, just need to turn a notch and we have our very own driver, Gerrard if u may. pls no matter what Arsene don’t sell Him, if need be just keep loaning Him out. mark my words, this is one of the kind of players that will keep Arsenal thriving in very few years to come. plus wilshere, ramsey, frimpong and benik. wow scary!