Arsenal's trip to the Middle East ended on a high as they came through unscathed against UAE outfit Al-Nasr in a friendly.

Arsenal have rounded off this week’s warm-weather training camp in Dubai with a 3-2 win over local side Al-Nasr at the Al Maktoum Stadium.

The Gunners starting XI – a mix of experience, youth and Mustafi – were pretty shaky in the opening stages as the hosts, playing with surprising intensity, forced us onto the back foot.

Bernd Leno made a couple of early stops to deny former Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo, but he couldn’t do anything when Ronnie Fernandez curled home on 14 minutes.

The Chilean left unmarked on the edge of the area, collected a cutback on the edge of the area, sold Shkodran Mustafi a feint that left the German on his arse (?) and coolly slotted into the top corner.

The Gunners initially struggled with the hot conditions although Denis Suarez was a bright spark in the final third. Just before the break, it was the Spaniard who played a deft pass for Carl Jenkinson and the right-back found the net following up on his initial effort that hit the bar. Anything to push that Cologne own goal down the SEO rankings, eh Carl?

Unai Emery made five changes for the second half and it had an immediate impact. On 51 minutes, Alex Lacazette finished a flowing move that started with a burst by Ainsley Maitland-Niles and included a beautiful flick from Mesut Ozil.

Tyreece John-Jules extended the lead with 18 minutes remaining, calmly slotting home after stealing the ball on the edge of the Al-Nasr box and leaving the keeper on the floor.

A late penalty for the home side narrowed the gap right at the death, but the Gunners prevailed in the end, and hopefully return to England with a clean bill of health.