Arsenal fans pack London streets for victory parade
Arsenal Football Newsletter
Arsenal begin the defence of their Premier League crown next month, but for now, preparations are firmly underway ahead of the new season.
The Arsenal players, who were not at the World Cup, returned to the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Monday for the official start of their pre-season, having held a training camp in Marbella last week.
After a few days of training, things were kicked up a notch on Saturday afternoon as a behind-closed-doors friendly took place against MK Dons.
Details of the match has been revealed with Arsenal recording a 3-0 victory, with Reiss Nelson - back from his loan spell at Brentford, Ethan Nwaneri and youngster Ceadach O’Neill all on the scoresheet.
Summer signing Christos Tzolis made his debut and is said to have linked up well with Riccardo Calafiori down the Gunners’ left-hand side.
While the Greece international did not trouble the goalscorers, he did claim the assist for Nelson’s goal in the tenth minute, with the Englishman smashing the ball into the bottom corner.
Debutant: Christos Tzolis
Nwaneri’s career has stalled somewhat following a loan spell in France with Marseille that did not go to plan, but he proved a point to Mikel Arteta with a fine strike to double Arsenal’s lead shortly before the break.
The only goal of the second half was scored by O’Neill as he latched onto a pass from Demiane Augustien before rifling an effort past MK Dons goalkeeper Craig MacGillvary at his near post.
This run out also saw Illan Mesiler make his debut in the second half, while the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly, Cristhian Mosquera, Max Dowman, Marli Salmon and January signing Craig Mooney got minutes under their belts.
Gabriel Jesus, linked with a summer move away from Arsenal, lead the line in the first half, but there was no involvement for either Ben White or Jurrien Timber as they are eased back following injuries.
Fabio Vieira was also absent amid reports that talks have started with Hamburg over a permanent transfer.
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Arsenal's first official pre-season fixture is on August 1 against Girona and Arteta will have the first crop of World Cup players back before then.
Those players are entitled to a minimum of three weeks off after their involvement for their countries. After such a hectic campaign last term, Arsenal might also opt to give certain players additional rest.