Alex Iwobi dropped for Arsenal's trip to Crystal Palace as Nigerian youngster joins U23 squad

Missing out: Iwobi did not join up with Arsene Wenger's senior squad for tonight's match
Arsenal FC via Getty Images
James Benge10 April 2017

Alex Iwobi will not be part of Arsenal’s squad for their visit to Crystal Palace tonight after playing for the Gunners’ Under-23 side in a 5-2 win at Reading this afternoon.

The 20-year-old had been in Arsene Wenger’s matchday squad for every Premier League game he has been fit for this season but had struggled for game time in recent games and remained on the bench for Wednesday’s 3-0 win over West Ham.

Standard Sport understands that there were no fitness concerns for Iwobi, whose place in the squad will be taken by Francis Coquelin.

Iwobi played the full 90 minutes for the U23s, who leapfrogged Chelsea into fourth place in Premier League 2 Division 1 with a victory over bottom of the table Reading.

Steve Gatting’s side ran out comfortable victors despite falling two goals down at Hogwood, Andrija Novakovich and Jordan Holsgrove scoring for Reading.

Mathieu Debuchy headed in from a corner to halve the deficit before half-time and then the much-maligned Yaya Sanogo, who had been absent with a mystery ailment for much of the early part of this season, scored a hat-trick, with Cohen Bramall also getting on the scoresheet.

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