Arsenal’s u23s got back to winning ways in their latest pre-season match against non-league senior side AFC Hornchurch, with a 3-0 victory on Tuesday night.

Whilst the u23 tour of Germany was good for getting the young players up to speed, it ended with a pretty disappointing defeat to Bayern Munich. Back in England, the game against Hornchurch gave the team a chance to put that result behind them, and they did so in style.

Joe Willock and Jordi Osei-Tutu featured in the match, but Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe were all left out, implying they’ll get some more first team minutes against Chelsea on Wednesday.

Stephy Mavididi, who returned from loan this summer but has been with the u23s since then, looked dangerous in the early stages. However, Hornchurch ended up creating the first good chance, and it took a good stop by Deyan Iliev to keep the scores level.

Then Charlie Gilmour gave Arsenal the lead after a well worked corner routine. The Gunners were well on top at this point, and had a couple more chances saved before the half-time whistle.

In the second half Hornchurch had an early chance to draw level after Iliev gave away a penalty, but he made up for that by saving Purcell’s effort with his legs.

After that, Arsenal made a number of substitutions, bringing on Olowu, Saka, Bielik, Omole, Tormey, John-Jules, Olayinka and Bola between the 60th and 70th minutes.

Tyreece John-Jules made a quick impact, finishing well in the 76th minute to make it 2-0, before Daniel Ballard made it three, poking home after a scramble from a corner.

Karl Jakob Hein came on for Iliev for his Arsenal debut in the final minutes, after the 16-year-old completed his move to the club this summer.

That’s how it finished, and hopefully one or two players will be able to secure loan moves after a generally positive showing.

Line-up

Starting XI: Iliev; Osei-Tutu, Pleguezuelo, Medley, Thompson; Gilmour, Willock; Amaechi, Burton, Bramall; Mavididi

Substitutes: Omole (for Medley), Saka (for Bramall), Olayinka (for Burton), Bielik (for Gilmour), Bola (for Thompson), Tormey (for Amaechi), John-Jules (for Mavididi), Hein (for Iliev)