Napoli Under 19 lose 1-2 to Arsenal after 95th-minute Munoz strike

While the Maradona prepared to host the first team for tonight's game against Arsenal, Napoli's Under 19 side had already faced their Gunners counterparts earlier on Wednesday 9 September, at the Stadio Giuseppe Piccolo in Cercola, in the opening match of the 2026/27 Youth League league phase. It finished 1-2, with Munoz's winner arriving in the 95th minute, just as the game looked to be heading for a draw.

Nocerino brought on Esposito for Mané at the break, and Napoli pushed higher up the pitch. The equaliser came in the 57th minute through Pereyra, a goal Napoli had earned. Arsenal responded with substitutes Tyjon and Sampang, and the game stayed open to the last kick: in the 95th minute, deep into stoppage time, Munoz scored the goal that made it 2-1 to the visitors.

A defeat that hurts on the scoreboard more than in the performance itself. Napoli go into this Youth League campaign as a side now competing in Primavera 2, having been relegated from the top tier, yet they matched a Arsenal side built as one of the strongest academies in Europe until stoppage time. The Londoners, coached by David Horseman, still take the first three points of the group.

There is a sense of an opportunity missed in the very minutes when the game seemed under control, after Pereyra's equaliser had levelled a match that Branchizio's error had put Arsenal in front of. For Nocerino, working to rebuild a youth set-up recovering from relegation, the response shown by his players against a stronger opponent remains something to build on for the rest of the Youth League group stage.