Riccardo Calafiori made his Arsenal debut as the Gunners used their set-piece prowess to beat Lyon 2-0 in their final pre-season encounter and lift the Emirates Cup.
The Gunners dominated the match from start to finish and were already 2-0 up when the Italian defender, who joined for £42m from Bologna last month, entered the field just after the hour mark.
The goals came from centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel, who both nodded home Declan Rice corners to remind the rest of the Premier League that the Gunners – who scored 22 set-piece goals last season, excluding penalties – are a threat from dead-ball scenarios.
There could have been more set-piece joy for Arsenal either side of half-time as Kai Havertz headed over from close range after Gabriel Martinelli knocked Bukayo Saka’s free-kick across goal, before Thomas Partey rolled an effort wide from another corner.
Martin Odegaard went close to a third but saw his effort well-saved by Lyon goalkeeper Lucas Perri, but the biggest cheer of the second half came when Calafiori was introduced at left-back, in place of the impressive Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The Italian played around 15 minutes at full-back before moving to centre-half on 77 minutes after a raft of changes from Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners were rarely untested in their final friendly until the closing minutes, when David Raya saved well from a one-on-one against Lyon substitute Ernest Nuamah after Jakub Kiwior’s slip. Apart from that moment, Arsenal ended their pre-season campaign with ease.
Source – Arsenal 2 – 0 Lyon – Match Report & Highlights (skysports.com)
