Arsenal 3-1 Brentford 

IRELAND’S ALAN JUDGE put the final remnants of his injury nightmare behind him as he curled home a free-kick in Brentford’s Carabao Cup defeat against Arsenal.

A Danny Welbeck first-half double put the Gunners into a comfortable 2-0 lead before Judge pulled one back for the visitors shortly before the hour mark.

Judge, 29, suffered a horrific leg break in 2016 which left him out of action for 20 months and put his career in serious jeopardy.

And while the Dubliner memorably scored Ireland’s last-minute winner in their friendly against the United States this summer, this was his first club goal since 27 February 2016, ending a long barren spell and setting up a tense finale.

However, it wasn’t enough to help the Championship side upset their top-tier opponents as Alexandre Lacazette made the game safe with Arsenal’s third deep into stoppage time.

Welbeck returned as one of nine changes from the weekend’s win against Everton and opened the scoring in the fifth minute, rising unchallenged to emphatically head in Matteo Guendouzi’s corner.

His second, eight minutes before the interval, capped a sweeping move with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alex Iwobi and the overlapping Nacho Monreal combining to provide a tap-in.

Judge’s brilliant free-kick proved an unexpected twist and Brentford almost had an equaliser in quick time, Sergi Canos flashing a shot over the bar, and penalties remained a possibility right until Lacazette put the seal on Arsenal’s victory.

– Additional reporting Omni

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