Arsenal winger Christos Tzolis produced another quality performance during the pre-season friendly against Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The Gunners suffered a second-straight loss in pre-season after a 3-2 defeat to Dortmund. Despite the loss, there were some positives to carry forward from the game.
Tzolis continued his bright form for the Premier League champions. The Greek registered a goal and an assist in his previous two outings against Girona and Real Betis, respectively.
The left winger fared better against Dortmund. Tzolis produced the assist for Ethan Nwaneri’s goal and also won the penalty converted by Viktor Gyokeres before his late substitution.
Tzolis, praised for his ‘unbelievable‘ work rate by manager Mikel Arteta, should have had another assist early on, but Gyokeres failed to capitalise on a solid scoring opportunity.
The 24-year-old created four chances against Dortmund yesterday alongside four recoveries and two interceptions. He delivered two successful crosses out of five attempted.
Tzolis is fully fit and firing for his debut season. He looks poised to make the starting line-up from the left wing for the Community Shield against Manchester City this weekend.
Alongside Tzolis, Ethan Nwaneri had a lively outing against Dortmund. Nwaneri came on in the 33rd minute to replace captain Martin Odegaard and was quite impressive.
The young Englishman scored a fabulous goal from Tzolis’ cross and also caught the eye with his defensive work, something which has been a weakness for him in the past.
Nwaneri won 100 percent of his tackles (3/3) with five recoveries and four duels won. He was another standout player and appears determined to prove a point to the manager.
The Gunners have one more friendly against Como before facing the Cityzens. Arsenal start their Premier League title defence at home against Coventry City on Friday, August 21.
Stats from Sofascore.com