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.
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.