Arsenal u23s came from behind to earn a point away to Chelsea.

Arsenal’s youngsters were looking to bounce back in the Premier League 2 following their defeat to Tottenham.

A more experienced and familiar team lined-up against Chelsea. There were starts for Josh Dasilva, Joe Willock, Chuba Akpom, Marcus McGuane and Eddie Nketiah.

Chelsea took the lead after 14 minutes with their first real chance of the match. Harvey St. Clair played a neat reverse pass to find the overlapping run of Josh Grant. The full-back’s first time cross caught the whole Arsenal back line out and found Martell Taylor-Crossdale for an easy tap-in.

Arsenal responded in brilliant fashion. Dasilva received the ball on the left flank and pinged a well-weight pass over the top of the Chelsea defence to find the run of Vlad Dragonir. The Romanian kept his head to loft the ball over Chelsea keeper Jamie Cumming to bring Arsenal level.

The hosts restored their lead after 65 minutes. Kylian Hazard embarked on a mazy run around the Arsenal defence and force Deyan Illiev into a save from a tight angle. The ball fell to Dujon Sterling, whose effort managed to squirm under Illiev’s body into the net.

It took Arsenal until the 89th to find the equaliser. Dragomir received the ball on the left of Chelsea’s penalty area and cut it back to Joe Willock near the penalty spot. Willock took one touch to get it out of his feet and slotted calmly into the far corner.

Arsenal had a late chance to win it on the counter. Chuba Akpom set-up McGuane, but his shot was straight at Cumming.

The result leaves Arsenal 5 in the Premier League 2 First Division, with 16 points from nine games.

The highlights of the game can be viewed on Arsenal Player.