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A week after completing a dream move to Arsenal , Cohen Bramall made his first appearance in a Gunners shirt on Monday night, turning out for the Under-23 side in a 3-1 away win at Southampton.
Bramall was signed from non-league side Hednesford Town, days after being made redundant from his job in a Bentley factory and lined up on the left-hand side of defence for Steve Gatting’s side, report football.london .
The 20-year-old, who last month was playing non-league football for Hednesford Town, lined up on the left hand side of defence for Steve Gatting’s side.
After going behind in the first half, goals from Stephy Mavididi, Eddie Nketiah and Chris Willock saw the Gunners fight back to take all three points in the Premier League 2 fixture.
Here’s how Bramall fared during the encounter at Southampton’s Staplewood Training Ground.
Bramall was in the game inside the opening two minutes and his first real involvement was very promising,
He got up to support the attack and when he received possession just outside the box, his first thought was to knock the ball past his full-back and drive into the penalty area.
It was positive play and it was also the first glimpse we got of his impressive turn of pace. Saints did manage to get the ball away but it was good to see him start off on the front foot.
The game then switched over to the Arsenal right for the next 10 minutes, with Reiss Nelson looking impressive. The next time we saw Bramall was when he played his part in a quick break, his clever pass found Nelson but the shot was blocked.
The first real sign of nervousness for Bramall came in the 16th minute when he gifted possession away with a poor right-footed pass.
His reaction was to cover his face with his hands, that’s something that he’ll need to cut out from his game. Everyone makes mistakes, you shouldn’t let your head drop when it happens to you.
That incident seemed to lead to a loss of confidence in the youngster - he spent the next 15 minutes struggling with his passing, with more than one simple ball going astray.
He did win one crunching challenge, however, which was good to see. He showed no fear when the ball was there to be won.
With Southampton getting on top in the latter stages of the half, Bramall was put under increasing pressure deep inside his own half.
He was robbed of possession on 39 minutes and the hosts created an opportunity for Jake Vokins, whose powerful shot was well saved by Hugo Keto.
But Saints did take the lead when the resulting corner wasn’t cleared and Jonathan Afolabi thundered a finish into the roof of the net.
It was a deserved goal - but Bramall ended the half well with a fine run and cross which Southampton did well to clear in stoppage time.
Arsenal stepped up the pressure in the first 15 minutes of the second half - but most of the play came down the right.
Bramall did not see much of the ball as the pressure increased on the home side’s defence.
The Gunners took advantage of their good spell when Stephy Mavididi levelled things up with a smart finish on the hour mark.
After a quite period in the game, Bramall burst back into life on the 70 minute mark.
He was heavily involved in a fine move down the left, having a series of touches before Arsenal worked a shooting position for Willock.
The shot was saved comfortably but it was a good piece of play from the visitors, one that Bramall was at the heart of.
Arsenal dominated the closing stages of the contest and two quick goals from Eddie Nketiah and Chris Willock earned them all three points.
Bramall was replaced on 83 minutes by Josh Dasilva.
Bramall will be very happy with his first showing in an Arsenal shirt.
He will no doubt have been nervous and that did show on a couple of occasions - but all in all it was a solid display.
He always tried to be positive when in possession and showed flashes of his pace when he did find some space down the left.
Bramall’s passing was a bit suspect at times and that will need to improve, but given the rapid rise in quality he is having to adapt to, he delivered a decent display.
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