Arsenal completed their pre-season schedule with a 2-0 win over French side Lyon, retaining the Emirates Cup in the process.
Bukayo Saka had the Gunners first chance of the afternoon, heading a Martinelli cross on target but more or less straight at the keeper, after which we enjoyed a series of corners as the game played out primarily in the opposition half.
And it was from one of those set-pieces that we took a 9th minute lead, William Saliba rising highest to head home from a Declan Rice delivery. 1-0.
Another Rice corner caused problems for Lyon, again Saliba was a menacing presence in the box, before Saka used his head again but saw his effort from a Zinchenko cross drift wide of the far post.
Rice had a pop from distance which was easy for the keeper, and great work from Odegaard saw Martinelli get in behind but the defender got back well to block his cross with Havertz waiting in the middle for a tap-in. From the resulting corner though, the lead was doubled. Again, Rice’s delivery was excellent, and this time it was our other central defender, Gabriel, who arrived to power home a thumping header to make it 2-0.
It should have been 3-0 when a fantastic Havertz pass sent Martinelli in behind, but despite getting ahead of his opponent, the defender did just enough to put him off before he could get a shot away. Havertz then headed over when Martinelli nodded a Saka free kick back across goal, and there was a rare effort from Lyon when Said Benrahma dragged a shot wide of Raya’s near post.
There was more danger a couple of minutes later when a dangerous Ainsley Maitland-Niles cross almost found Georges Mikautadze in the middle, but Raya got a foot on it to snuff out the chance, and Mikel Arteta’s men took the two goal lead into the break.
Surprisingly, there were no changes to the side at half-time. Mikautadze had the first effort of the second period but fired over, before nice work from Martinelli set up Odegaard for a shot from the edge of the box, but the keeper made a fine save to push the ball around the post.
Partey curled a shot wide after a Rice attempt was blocked into his path, Havertz shot wide after great movement from Martinelli, and Saka’s third header of the day – this time from a Zinchenko cross – saw the ball rebound off the bottom of the post.
Saka almost got on the end of an Odegaard pass as the two combined in close quarters in the Lyon box, and in the 63rd minute Arteta made his first changes of the game, first of which was a debut for Riccardo Calafiori as he replaced Zinchenko. The Italian entered the pitch to huge applause from the crowd.
Gabriel Jesus came on for Declan Rice, which saw Havertz move back into midfield, while Lyon made a clutch of substitutions themselves. Saliba came close to getting another when he headed a Saka free kick wide of the post, and with about 15 minutes to go, Arteta introduced Jakub Kiwior, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Leandro Trossard, and Reiss Nelson for Havertz, Saka, Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, and Martinelli. Eddie Nketiah, linked strongly with a move to Marseille over the weekend, remained on the bench.
Odegaard’s vision set up Nelson for an attempt which the keeper saved at his near post, while at the other end a quick long throw caught Jorginho out but Raya was on hand to deny the Lyon forward as he drove into our box.
