The Arsenal u23s headed into the international break with a draw away to Crystal Palace, with Marcelo Flores scoring again.

In a warm-up for the next first-team fixture away to Crystal Palace, the Arsenal u23s travelled to the same opponents on Saturday.

Arsenal welcomed back a couple of their players to the starting lineup, with Jonathan Dinzeyi playing his first minutes after his loan recall and Salah-Eddine Oulad M’hand returning to the side following his red-card suspension.

Mika Biereth was also involved up front, having been in and out of the squad lately, and Ovie Ejeheri made his first appearance in goal since January.

Ejeheri had to be alert in the early stages, smothering an effort from Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, but the first half was a relatively quiet affair overall.

Miguel Azeez went closest for Arsenal with a free-kick, but it was a fairly straightforward save.

After the break, Arsenal finally broke the deadlock through Marcelo Flores, who finished off a well-worked passing move from one box to the other.

Flores is having a prolific season for the academy, with only centre-forwards Folarin Balogun and Khayon Edwards scoring more goals.

Dinzeyi prevented a Palace equaliser with a clearance off the line, but Palace found that leveller moments later as Nya Kirby turned in a rebound after Rak-Sakyi hit the post.

Biereth almost gave Arsenal another lead at the death, but his header was very well saved and the match ended 1-1.

Arsenal u23 lineup vs Crystal Palace

Ejeheri, Ogungbo, S. Oulad M’hand, Dinzeyi, Walters, Kirk, Butler-Oyedeji, Olayinka, Flores, Biereth, Azeez

Substitutes

Graczyk, Ibrahim, Henry-Francis (for Butler-Oyedeji, 71), Lewis, Ideho

What’s next?

Following the international break, the Arsenal u23s return to action with a match at the Emirates Stadium against league leaders Manchester City on Monday, April 4th at 19:00 BST.

Unfortunately, that’s roughly the same time the first team will be in action against Crystal Palace, so it will be difficult to follow both games.