RICCARDO CALAFIORI made his Arsenal debut in a comfortable 2-0 victory against Lyon at the Emirates to end their pre-season.
The Gunners new-boy – a £42m purchase from Bologna – came on in the 64th minute to rapturous applause from the home faithful, having already been serenaded while warming up on the touchline.
Versatile defender Calafiori, 22, slipped in at left-back – replacing Oleksandr Zinchenko – and had several promising moments on and off the ball.
He then shuffled over to centre back for the final 14 minutes, showing off his usefulness to the squad – one of the main reasons boss Mikel Arteta pushed to sign him.
Arteta would also have been pleased with both goals – coming from Declan Rice corners in the first half with defensive duo William Saliba and then Gabriel heading home.
In fact the two finishes were so similar that fans labelled them as a “cheat code” with Arsenal tapping into their set piece dominance of last season.
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Arsenal scored 16 Prem goals from corners last term – more than anyone else – with 22 in total from set-pieces, and look set to carry that into this campaign.
A pre-arranged penalty shoot-out at full-time regardless of the score was scrapped, with Arsenal instead doing a lap of honour before lifting the Emirates Cup.
The North Londoners are in top condition and fine form ahead of their Prem opener against Wolves on Saturday, avoiding any serious injury scares.
As expected, Jurrien Timber was not included in the squad, nursing a minor foot issue, but should be competing to make the squad against Wolves.
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Fabio Vieira also missed out with a hip injury, while Takehiro Tomiyasu remains missing with a troublesome knee.
Arteta’s starting XI resembled what we could see next weekend, with Thomas Partey at the base of midfield and Gabriel Martinelli on the left wing with Kai Havertz as a No.9.
The German international had a quiet afternoon, having excelled in an advanced midfield position in mid-week against Bayer Leverkusen.
A dominant Arsenal grabbed their opener in the ninth minute – Rice’s looped delivery headed past Lyon keeper Lucas Perri from close range by Saliba.
Bukayo Saka wasted a couple of chances with his head soon after before Gabriel peeled away towards the back post from another Rice corner with a simple finish.
The score should have been greater with Martinelli lacking a cutting edge in front of goal – including fluffing his lines in a one-v-one having broken away from the halfway line.
With the game drifting, Arteta threw on six subs in the 76th minute: Ethan Nwaneri, Jorginho, Jakub Kiwior, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
