We won the Emirates Cup for the eighth time with a 2-0 victory over Lyon on Sunday afternoon.
Two Declan Rice corners were headed in - by William Saliba in the ninth minute and Gabriel in the 27th - and they were enough to secure the trophy.
Gunners get going
We tested Lucas Perri early on as Gabriel Martinelli’s cross was headed back across goal by Bukayo Saka, but the Lyon goalkeeper got both hands behind it.
But there was little he could do moments later, when Martin Odegaard dispossessed Maxence Caqueret, allowing Martinelli to win us a corner.
Rice whipped it in and Saliba was on hand to nod home the opener.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was next to find Saka’s head with a brilliant delivery from the left, but this time our number seven shot wide of the far post.
After Rice tried his luck from long range with a shot that went straight at Perri, Odegaard played a clever pass through to Martinelli whose effort was deflected for another corner kick.
Once again, Rice curled it in and the ball flew all the way to the far post where Gabriel rose highest to double our lead.
hungry for more
We could’ve gone 3-0 up as Kai Havertz volleyed the ball forward to Martinelli to run onto on the counter-attack, but the latter went down under pressure and the referee felt there wasn’t enough in it to award a penalty.
Our appetite for more goals didn't change in the second half, as we once again came flying out the traps, initially with Martinelli finding Odegaard who curled the ball towards goal from inside the D, but Perri got a hand to it to tip it past the post.
A corner in the 53rd minute came out to Rice, whose shot was blocked in the 18-yard box, before the ball fell kindly to Thomas Partey, who cushioned it wide of the bottom right corner.
Havertz's next effort met the same fate following precise build-up play from Odegaard and Martinelli, before Saka's header hit the post from another Zinchenko cross.
nullifying lyon's response
Said Benrahma had a sight of goal in the 60th minute in a rare foray forward for Lyon, but he bent the ball over the top right corner from distance.
We made a double change in the 64th minute, Riccardo Calafiori coming on for his debut alongside Gabriel Jesus as Zinchenko and Rice made way.
It was Saliba who Saka found with a cross from a free-kick though, but our French defender could only steer his header wide.
Changes were afoot again in the 77th minute as Mikel Arteta introduced Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Jakub Kiwior, Jorginho, Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard to proceedings, with Havertz, Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Saka, and Martinelli coming off.
Lyon had a chance to pull one back when Perri threw the ball forward to Ernest Nuamah but, after bursting through on goal, he was stopped by David Raya, who parried the ball over the bar.
UP NEXT
Our Premier League campaign begins at home to Wolves for a 3pm kick-off on Saturday, August 17.
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