Arsenal’s FA Youth Cup campaign ended in disappointment  following a 4-2 defeat to Everton at Underhill.

Chuba Akpom opened the scoring after 11 minutes but it took the away side under two minutes to level via Matthew Pennington.

The Toffees burst out of the blocks at the start of the second half with Chris Long, Conor Grant and Harry Charsley scoring within nine minutes, Serge Gnabry pulled one back with 19 minutes to play.  

The Gunners edged past Fulham at Underhill in the fourth round and Steve Gatting’s decision to name an unchanged side looked to have paid off as Akpom put them ahead early on.

Their lead lasted just 100 seconds however as Everton won a free-kick on the edge of the area which was swung in by Charsley and headed past Deyan Iliev by Pennington.

Gatting’s side responded well to this setback with Isaac Hayden, Gnabry and Kris Olsson all going close as the Gunners shaded a tight first half.

However, the away raced out of the blocks following restart and scored three goals in nine second half minutes to earn a 4-1 lead and effectively seal the win.

The Gunners failed to clear 90 seconds into the half and Long capatalised by firing the ball into the roof of the net before Grant added a third from close range one minute later.

With 56 minutes played the fatal blow came as Everton broke following an Arsenal free-kick, Pennington gave Iliev no choice but to close him down but he squared to Charsley to tap home.

The home side were left stunned and never recovered despite Gnabry giving them a glimpse of hope with a superb solo effort with 19 minutes to play.