Arsenal’s U23s produced an electric display to thrash Manchester United’s U23 side on Monday night, with Konstantinos Mavropanos making a solid first appearance in red and white amongst a strong Gunners team.

Goals from Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Vlad Dragomir and an Eddie Nketiah double sealed a deserved 4-0 win in Premier League Two.

The match at Meadow Park saw Mavropanos, starting on the left of the junior Gunners’ back three, put in a composed performance throughout.

Arsenal took control of the game immediately and United weren’t allowed a proper chance until 40 minutes.

The first goal came after 18 minutes, Adelaide found space on the left side of the box before smacking the ball into the bottom left.

Adelaide had three golden opportunities before United had taken a shot at goal, going through one-on-one with Theo Richardson. He couldn’t get height on his chip, and the keeper gathered comfortably. The Gunners’ number seven then headed wide from close range a minute later.

Ben Sheaf, who extended his deal before Christmas after making his debut for Arsenal against Red Star Belgrade in October, acted almost as a deep playmaker on the right of the fluid back three, displaying impressive versatility and technical ability.

It was a very dominant half from Arsenal. Those who had gone to get a first look at new man Mavropanos had very little to judge him on due to a lack of United threat. After 60 minutes, Dragomir played a simple one-two with Reiss Nelson to send the left-wing-back into the box. In acres of space with plenty of goal to aim at, he calmly slotted home for 2-0.

United forced Matt Macey into one good save from a corner but Nketiah put them out of sight. First he picked the ball up from deep on the right, sprinted clear to coolly slot in at the near post. Then Nelson ripped their defence to shreds, playing it across for Nketiah to easily tap in for 4-0.

The were mismatched and the score-line may even have flattered the United side, especially after Nketiah missed a chance from two yards that could have completed his hat-trick in added time.

As it was, the natural born goalscorer tweeted after the match: “Great 4-0 win vs Man Utd tonight, nice to get two more goals”