Arsenal saw off Al-Nasr Dubai SC with a 3-2 victory in their mid-season friendly, with a number of youngsters given the chance to impress.

Unai Emery gave chances to all the senior players who made the trip to Dubai, but that still left room in the team for a number of academy stars to make rare appearances for the first team.

The combination took a little while to gel though, with Al Nasr taking the lead in the 14th minute. Carl Jenkinson brought things level before half time, before Alexandre Lacazette and debutant Tyreece John-Jules made it 3-1. There was still time for the hosts to pull one back with a 90th-minute penalty, but Arsenal left with the win.

The main thing was to avoid injury and get a good run out, and on that front, the event was a success. Let’s have a look at our player ratings for the match.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Bernd Leno 6

There was nothing Leno could do about the goal he conceded, as it was a fine finish from Fernandez in off the post. Other than that he dealt with the opportunities Arsenal conceded well, even if his defenders seemed to ignore his clearly audible shouts to leave the ball when he came for catches.

Carl Jenkinson 7.5

Jenkinson always seems to give his best when he pulls on an Arsenal shirt, and he put in a typically hard-working performance in a game many of his teammates were playing at walking pace. Eventually, he was rewarded with a goal, shortly after hitting the post. He then came off at half-time.

Shkodran Mustafi 3

Even against relegation battlers from the UAE Arabian Gulf League, Mustafi still managed to make defending look difficult. Al Nasr had chance after chance in the early stages in areas he was supposed to be covering, and then they scored after he seemingly fell over whilst trying to block a shot. He also came off at half-time.

Konstantinos Mavropanos 6

Mavropanos was one of few to last the full 90 minutes, which will be a positive for him after his injury problems. He misplaced one or two passes and wasn’t faultless defensively, but he was a lot better than some of his partners at the back and he showed good physicality throughout.

Zech Medley 5

Medley was playing at left-back, rather than at centre-back as in his Europa League appearances. At first, that seemed to be working well, as he had a few nice early touches. However, he quickly wore out in the humidity and didn’t seem up for sprinting up and down the touchline. That led to a couple of mistakes at both ends of the pitch.

Midfield

Ben Sheaf 6

Sheaf played some really nice passes, particularly one long ball to Lacazette, but he could’ve elected to play it short a bit more often. One or two times he chose to try and play a pass 40 yards when he had a teammate nearby and it ended up going out of play or losing Arsenal possession. Nonetheless, when it came off, it looked great.

Charlie Gilmour 6

Gilmour did a good job winning the ball back, though he did also lose it once or twice, as Sheaf did. Overall, a solid performance from the midfielder, and it can’t have been easy for either him or Sheaf to step into a senior match in the heat partnered with another youth player.

Mesut Özil 7

Despite the conditions and the fact it was just a friendly, Özil worked hard and seemed keen to make sure Arsenal got the win in front of supporters who were clearly big fans of his. He ended up with an assist for Alexandre Lacazette and could’ve had one or two more. Came off mid-way through the second half.

Forwards

Xavier Amaechi 6.5

Amaechi was very lively, trying to take players on and find a killer pass, but it didn’t always come off for him. His best work was in the build-up to the first goal, where he took one or two players on before laying it off for Denis Suarez. The teenager ended up coming off at half-time to give some others a chance.

Denis Suarez 8

Given his first start for Arsenal, albeit in a friendly, Suarez impressed the Gunners supporters. He was one of few who was up for driving forward and making things happen from the first minute until the last, and his clever reverse pass saw Carl Jenkinson get in behind for the opening goal.

The Spaniard may well have earned himself some more game time when the competitive fixtures return.

Alexandre Lacazette 7

Lacazette worked hard but did look a little affected by the conditions. He got his goal in the second half anyway, finishing nicely, and he could’ve had one or two more. Though calling his part in the first goal an “assist” is being a little kind, it was still his presence that opened up the gap for Jenkinson to score.

Substitutes

Ainsley Maitland-Niles 8

Maitland-Niles continued his good form from the recent Manchester United and Rennes matches with another impressive display. He woke Arsenal up in the second half with his energy and attacking influence, and he also got back well on one or two occasions to help the defence out.

Laurent Koscielny 6

Koscielny didn’t really have too much to do. He did well enough with his limited workload. He was a little lucky his short backpass wasn’t pounced upon.

Petr Cech 6

Cech came out nicely once or twice, calmly chesting the ball to a teammate on one occasion. Unfortunately, his clean sheet was spoiled with a penalty. He’d hardly had a save to make before that.

Dominic Thompson 6

Thompson did a solid job from the bench, looking a little more comfortable than Medley had in the first half.

Julio Pleguezuelo 4

Pleguezuelo made two rash challenges. The first went unpunished, with the referee very kindly choosing not to even give a free-kick, the second resulted in a yellow card and a penalty. Realistically it could have been a second yellow. He did make one good clearing header from a dangerous cross, on the positive side.

Tyreece John-Jules 8

John-Jules showed exactly what he’s about with a lot of good closing down of the defenders and one or two nice moments linking up with teammates. That attitude ended up winning him the ball and putting him through on goal, at which point he took a fake shot, rounded the goalkeeper and finished into a net guarded by two defenders.

Maybe he committed a foul in winning the ball back, but his hard work made sure that was a decision the referee had to make, and the call went his way. After that, it was composed stuff from the 18-year-old.

James Olayinka 7

Olayinka had a positive cameo after a pretty hit and miss season. Jeorge Bird suggested after the game that the midfielder’s game could be boosted by having senior players around him, and that may well be the case. On this occasion, he worked hard and added a bit more creativity to the midfield.

Jordi Osei-Tutu 6

Osei-Tutu pushed forward well but couldn’t quite find the final ball from the right-hand side. Still, a nice brief appearance for the 20-year-old, who will be disappointed his injury problems earlier in the campaign prevented him from getting more chances.