Arsenal advance to Europa League knockout stages with 100% record after victory over Dundalk as Joe Willock and Folarin Balogun star in Ireland

Arsenal finished their Europa League group stage campaign with a 100% record after dispatching Dundalk 4-2 in Ireland on Thursday night.

There was a time when the Gunners would unleash the best talent from their academy on unsuspecting teams in the League Cup.

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Folarin Balogun grabbed a goal and an assist from the bench for Arsenal

However, Mikel Arteta instead prefers to let his young Gunners off the leash in Europe instead, with his youthful side tearing Dundalk apart.

Eddie Nketiah became the club’s top scorer for this season with his fifth goal of the season with a composed dinked finish. Mohamed Elneny doesn’t get on the scoresheet often, but his rasping drive from 25 yards flew into the Dundalk net to extend the lead.

There was to be no clean sheet for the visitors however, as Runar Runarsson allowed Jordan Flores’ shot to find the far corner of the net.

Arsenal had to wait past the hour mark to make the game safe when Florian Balogun set up Joe Willock to fire past Gary Rogers.

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Folarin Balogun grabbed a goal and an assist from the bench for Arsenal

The Englishman became the first player to register three goals and three assists in a European campaign for the club since Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil managed to do so in the 2016/17 season.

It looked as though it would be a fantastic trip for Arteta when Nicolas Pepe slipped in Folarin Balogun to fire home a collected effort into the bottom corner for only his second ever Arsenal goal.

But the youngsters switched off from a set-piece to allow Sean Hoare to head home, which will surely irk the Arsenal manager ahead of the visit of Burnley. Conversely, Sean Dyche and his men will surely be licking their lips.

Callum Chambers captained the side on his return from injury having not played since limping off against Chelsea a year ago and the England international thought he had made it five, only to be ruled out for offside.

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Emile Smith Rowe and Joe Willock impressed in midfield

Six out of six for Arsenal and they now look ahead to the draw on Monday night to see where their European adventure will take them.

More to follow…