Mikel Arteta watched two of his teams come up trumps against Lyon despite having an entirely youth-driven eleven for the final 20-plus minutes of the game. Goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira were enough to claim the win.
Four saves from Karl Hein secured an additional point for Arsenal in the Dubai Super Cup too. Liverpool will face Milan in the second game before the Gunners play the Italian side next week.
There were varying performances from a number of the group against the Ligue 1 giants. football.london takes a look at who exactly the winners and losers from the fixture were on a more individual basis.
READ MORE: Arsenal vs Lyon highlights: Nketiah, Vieira and Gabriel on target as Gunners ease to victory
Winners
Eddie Nketiah
With the injury to Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah needed to score. Despite the fact this was in essence a friendly, other than it being part of an off-season tournament, there was pressure on the 23-year-old striker to produce as the doubt after the Brazilian’s injury had only been growing.
By finishing off a great chance created by Fabio Vieira he was able to settle those concerns and there is another chance next week against Juventus on December 17 to do it again before the Premier League gets underway on Boxing Day. Nketiah needs more than goals though, he needs to be collaborative, and, in this game, he did drop deep at times and tried to work the play.
Fabio Vieira
Fabio Vieira was one of the biggest losers from preseason because, simply, he didn’t have one. The Portuguese youth international suffered a foot injury which meant despite travelling to both Germany and the United States he was unable to play.
Against Lyon, he provided the assist for Nketiah before adding to his reputation of being a long-shot taker with a fabulous strike on his left foot into the top right-hand corner of Anthony Lopes’ goal. His goal against Brentford has similar traits but Vieira will have been given the world of confidence to kick off the mid-season preparations in this way.
Mikel Arteta
When you play a friendly the result is often secondary to seeing if strategy on the training field comes to fruition and of course the avoidance of unnecessary injury. However, for Mikel Arteta, he got to see his new starting striker Nketiah score and impress, Fabio Vieira score and assist, coaching his under-21s to a 20-plus minute clean sheet against a senior European side and see a quick response from the period of time off whilst missing several crucial players.
Arteta will be delighted with the first game back and it is indeed good to have the Gunners playing again. He spoke of the potential ways in which the squad can become stronger, potentially hinting at the January transfer window and he and sporting director Edu faces a test to ensure it is successful.
Losers
Marquinhos
There remains a question mark over where Marquinhos currently fits into Arsenal’s short- and long-term plans. His performance against Lyon was a bit disappointing as the shots he took, besides his long-ranged effort hitting the bar, seemed rushed, as did his passing game.
Fortunately for Marquinhos, he remains very young and there is an appreciation that he needs further development. football.london understands the club are considering a potential loan move for him this January where regular senior football would benefit him and his future in north London.
Charles Sagoe Jr
Mikel Arteta made ten second-half changes bringing on nine under-21 regulars into the fold against Lyon. There were some good performances from Lino Sousa and Ethan Nwaneri in particular.
However, of all the young guns, Charles Sagoe Jr was left on the bench. Perhaps it was simply down to having only the ten subs that could come on, although it is difficult not to have some sympathy for him with the hope being his chance comes against AC Milan.
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