Strange EFL Trophy ruling that granted Arsenal extra point as under-21 secure dream result

Arsenal Under-21s earned their first points of the Papa John's Trophy on Tuesday evening with a penalty shoot-out win over League Two side Swindon Town.

The young Gunners dominated the Football League outfit at the County Ground and missed countless opportunities to kill off the game. An early Reuell Walters own goal was cancelled out almost immediately by Lino Sousa in an entertaining start.

Former Chelsea academy player Tariq Uwakwe restored Swindon's lead before Jimi Gower took the contest to penalties. However, there was a howler involving goalkeeper Karl Hein. The Estonian goalkeeper played a big part in Swindon's second goal after failing to deal with pressure inside the penalty area.

After trying to wriggle away from Uwakwe inside the six-yard box, the goalkeeper was challenged and Arsenal found themselves 2-1 down. Fortunately for the Gunners, Hein redeemed himself in dramatic fashion in the penalty shoot-out.

With the scores level at 3-3 after successful spot-kicks from Marcelo Flores, Cozier-Duberry and Khayon Edwards for the Gunners, Hein denied Benn Ward with an impressive save. Ethan Nwaneri and James Sweet made sure of the victory to hand Mehmet Ali's team a bonus point in the competition.

Arsenal now top their group with two points having been awarded a bonus point for their penalty shoot-out win. As per EFL Trophy ruling, teams will be awarded three points for a win and one for a draw, but in the event of a draw after 90 minutes, an additional point will be up for grabs in a penalty shoot-out.

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Hein's save means the Gunners lead Swindon Town, Exeter City and Reading in their group. They will travel to Exeter on