We progressed to the semi-finals of the Premier League 2 title play-offs with an impressive but hard-fought 3-2 victory against Arsenal at Meadow Park last Saturday.

Although Chelsea were trailing in the initial stages, Diego Moreira pulled one back through a fine volley just before the interval, to make sure the sides were even at the break. Arsenal found the lead again at the beginning of the second period, but Moreira hit back perfectly by finding the back of the net twice – the second in stoppage time – to earn the victory and take a step closer to the trophy.

Under-21s head coach Mark Robinson was pleased with the result and believes that performance showed the importance of his players fighting until the end and maintaining a focused mindset throughout.

‘Overall, it was a solid performance’ Robinson began. ‘Being honest, I was not pleased with the first-half performance, but we did improve as we headed into the interval to level the score.

‘But for the bulk of the first-half we were far too passive. Our players were playing too safe. It was a frustrating first-half as we felt that we were not performing to our standards and did not show our capabilities.’

As we returned to the pitch after the break, Robinson’s Blues were more threatening and applied instant pressure on the Gunners keeper through Dujuan Richards’ and Moreira’s efforts. That set the tone for how the rest of the game played out - with Chelsea on top.

Robinson continued: ‘I said to the boys at half-time “you can’t win a game of football if you are too scared to lose it” and that is what we looked like, scared.

‘After a good chat at the break, the lads came out with a positive reaction. Although, in some moments Arsenal did break through our defence, we looked much stronger and the game should have been ours earlier on.

‘There were certain players that were doing okay but were not putting in the performance we hoped for. We were way off our best in the first 45, so it was great to see a visible change in our performance and the players taking on what I said in the changing room.’

Moreira sealed his hat-trick and the victory in the closing stages of stoppage time, which Robinson felt showed the importance of continuing momentum throughout the game and remaining consistent, to ensure we could secure the win.

‘Fighting until the end is something we speak about a lot of the time. We always focus on the first 20 minutes of play and the last 20 minutes of the fixtures.

‘We keep a tally of how many goals we score during those minutes, as we feel if you dominate those stages, you end up winning the games.

‘We speak a lot about character and behaviours with the boys. The fact we continued to press and apply pressure was pleasing to see.

‘It was a great moment for him [Moreira]. It was without a doubt his best performance so far. He had reflected on his previous performance against Brighton, so it was great to see the improvements within his play from that game.

‘He looked a lot more relaxed and comfortable on the ball. It was positive to see him play throughout the whole game plus stoppage time. Getting the hat-trick was a great moment – and the quality of his goals were outstanding.’

Chelsea Under-21s will return to the pitch on Sunday at midday, when we compete in the semi-finals of the Premier League 2 play-offs against Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.