Gabriel Jesus, Max Dowman, and former Gunner Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all played in an Arsenal u21 friendly win over Manchester United behind closed doors on Saturday.
Last week, reports suggested an Arsenal XI were in line to play a friendly match against a Manchester United XI, in an attempt to help some of the injured players in both squads to get back up to full fitness.
Though the game didn’t end up taking place that week, with Arsenal playing a behind-closed-doors friendly against neighbours Watford instead, the United-Arsenal match ended up being scheduled for this weekend.
The Gunners confirmed on Saturday that Gabriel Jesus and Max Dowman would be involved in what was primarily an u21 friendly behind closed doors.
Nathan Salt of the Daily Mail revealed on Saturday evening that Arsenal won the match 3-0, with United’s James Overy dismissed late in the game for his second yellow.
As well as Jesus and Dowman, Salt reported that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got minutes for Arsenal, having trained with the club’s u21s recently.
In terms of the goalscorers, Jeorge Bird writes for Arsenal Youth that Dowman and Sagoe Jr. were on the scoresheet, though it remains unclear who netted the third.
Given the match was played behind closed doors, it’s possible no further details will ever emerge.
The good news is that Dowman clearly remains in form, and Jesus should be closer to making a contribution on the pitch for the first team. The Club Brugge game in midweek seems like a decent opportunity to get him some minutes at some stage, if all goes well.