It wasn't the same rip-roaring performance as we saw from the Gunners in their 4-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen a few days ago but there were still plenty of positives for Mikel Arteta to take forward.
The biggest plus point was set pieces. When aren't they? The north Londoners were excellent from corners in 2023/24 and showed they should score plenty more from those scenarios this weekend.
Arsenal-Emirates-Cup-Odegaard
Two Declan Rice corners, headed home by William Saliba and Gabriel won the game for Arteta's side who now just have six days to wait before taking on Wolves in their first Premier League clash of the new campaign.
Another positive was Riccardo Calafiori's first minutes in the red and white of Arsenal, introduced as a second-half substitute for Oleksandr Zinchenko.
So, will the Italian start the opening match of the new season? Given his lack of game time, it seems unlikely. That said, he's not the only one who should probably be expecting to be sat on the bench.
Riccardo Calafiori's cameo vs Lyon
Last week it was announced that Zinchenko was swapping his shirt number to 17. It's not a landmark moment but since then the Ukranian has been brilliant, starring now against both Leverkusen and Lyon.
The left-back cooly found the back of the net in midweek, sliding the ball home from the edge of the area after being teed up by Kai Havertz.
Zinchenko-Calafiori-Arsenal
Zinchenko also looked in good order on Sunday, notably winning three of his four duels, completing 90% of his passes and supplying four key passes. Not a bad day at the office indeed.
The former Manchester City man will no doubt have been sweating over his future with the arrival of Calafiori and Jurrien Timber's return from injury but he now looks set to start on the opening weekend against Wolves.
Calafiori will have to bide his time instead. The Italian showed a few neat touches, including one tidy driving run forward in the centre of the pitch.
A centre-back by trade, the former Bologna man will likely play most of his football at left-back and that's where he played on this occasion.
Calafiori-Arsenal
Interestingly enough, it does appear as though it's the entirety of the left-hand side that is up for debate. Will Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard start?
Martinelli's performance in numbers vs Lyon
Since the beginning of last season, Martinelli hasn't particularly been at the races. The Brazilian was in superb order during the 2022/23 campaign, scoring 15 Premier League goals in 36 games.
Yet, in 2023/24, his form took a turn for the worse, scoring just six times in the league. One of the main reasons for that was undoubtedly the rivalry he had with Trossard. The Belgian was a man possessed at points last season and ended the term with 17 strikes to his name, only three fewer than top scorer Bukayo Saka.
So, when Trossard scored a delightful goal against Leverkusen a few days ago, it looked like an uphill battle for Martinelli to start on the opening weekend of the new league season.
That was then confirmed when the Brazilian struggled against Lyon this weekend.
Trossard-Arsenal-
Martinelli was positive in his play, looking to get in behind on a regular basis but his first touch let him down and he struggled to get the ball out of his feet. That was notably the case in the first half. Martin Odegaard slipped a lovely ball in behind for Martinelli but he struggled to power beyond the defender and the chance came to nothing.
It's that lack of decisiveness that Trossard can trump him in and will likely lead to him being given the nod initially next week.
During his 78 minutes on the pitch, the no.11 made just 14 passes, two fewer than goalkeeper David Raya.
Martinelli vs Lyon
Touches
35
Accurate passes
14/19 (74%)
Key passes
4
Crosses
1/5
Long balls
1/1
Possession lost
14x
Shots
2
Dribbles
0/2
Duels won
2/7
Interceptions
1
Tackles
2
Stats via Sofascore.
In giving away possession on 14 occasions, it meant he lost the ball every 2.5 touches. Yes, Martinelli is direct and a risk-taker but he must learn to keep control of the ball better. That was evidenced further by the fact that he failed with both of his two dribble attempts.
His performance was perhaps best summed up by Football.London's Kaya Kaynak who noted at full-time that the winger was 'still struggling to find his technical quality when running at high speed on a consistent basis.'
Martinelli-Zinchenko-Arsenal
That will no doubt be a worry for Arteta and as a consequence, he should lean on Trossard for gameweek one of the Premier League.
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