Overview
- Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1 with Archie Stevens equalising before substitute Andre Harriman-Annous pounced for the decisive goal.
- Nicholas Oyekunle opened the scoring for Leyton Orient with a header and Khari Ranson captained and made several key saves for Arsenal.
- First-year scholar Daniel McCarron made his competitive U21 debut from the bench and other young players such as Teshaun Murisa, Maalik Hashi and Emerson Nwaneri started.
- Several regular U21s were absent because of first-team call-ups, which forced Horseman to rotate the squad and hand more minutes to younger academy players.
- Arsenal now head into their final group game against AFC Wimbledon with a realistic chance of reaching the knockout rounds and the result underlines the EFL Trophy’s role in testing academy talent against senior opposition.