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.
William Saliba and Gabriel both scored from Arsenal corners in the first half
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.
Arsenal scored 22 goals from set pieces last season and added two more to their tally
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.
Match reaction and analysis to follow…
What’s coming up in the Premier League?
Arsenal kick off their Premier League campaign at home to Wolves on Saturday, kick-off 3pm.
Five matches can be shown live on Sky Sports on the opening weekend of the season, including Manchester United vs Fulham opening the season on Friday, West Ham vs Aston Villa on Saturday Night Football, a Super Sunday double header of Brentford vs Crystal Palace and Chelsea vs Manchester City, before Leicester vs Tottenham round off the weekend’s action on Monday Night Football.