Eddie Nketiah scored twice for the Arsenal u23s as they managed to get their first win of the new campaign against West Ham United on Friday.

Freddie Ljungberg and his u23 side were on the hunt for a win after somehow managing to lose 6-5 against Manchester City, before letting a 1-0 lead slip late in injury time against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Fortunately, they didn’t make the same mistake again this time with West Ham. Nketiah gave the young side the lead in the first half, latching onto a fantastic long ball from Julio Pleguezuelo. Then Pleguezuelo added a second with a looping header to turn in a corner.

In the second half West Ham pulled one back, before Nketiah restored Arsenal’s two goal cushion. Another Hammers goal set up a nervous finish, but this time the Gunners managed to hold on for victory.

Nketiah continues to make a case for more first-team chances, as he’s clearly too good for youth games now. In the entirety of last season and this campaign so far, he has as many goal contributions as games in the Premier League 2.

Add to that his two goals in 127 minutes for the senior side, and he’s earned starts in the League Cup or Europa League.

It’s also good to see Pleguezuelo performing well. Now in the last year of his contract and at 21 years old, he’ll be looking to make this a big season.