Our young Gunners were beaten by a strong Chelsea side at Cobham on Tuesday afternoon.

WHAT HAPPENED

The game began evenly, with neither side creating many clear attacking opportunities in the opening stages.

Our first effort on target came after 20 minutes, when Kyran Thompson slipped a pass through to Brando Bailey-Joseph, but his left-footed strike was comfortably saved.

Soon after, we created another excellent chance. Louis Zecevic John found Alex Marciniak in behind, but, like Bailey-Joseph earlier, he was denied by a solid save from Bernal.

Chelsea took the lead on the half-hour mark. Jack Porter well saved Olutayo Subuloye’s initial header, but Dante Waite reacted quickest to fire the rebound into the top corner.

The hosts doubled their advantage just before the break, capitalising on a defensive lapse as Sol Gordon converted to give Chelsea firm control at half-time.

After the restart, Chelsea extended their lead through a stunning strike from Lewi Richards, who found the top corner from 25 yards.

They added a fourth when Kobe Barbour was brought down in the penalty area, and Jashayde Mensah-Greenwood calmly converted from the spot.

WHAT IT MEANS

The result leaves us on 25 points from 21 games.

WHAT’S NEXT