Arsenal continued their pre-season preparations with an impressive 4-1 victory over Girona at Estadi Montilivi.
Kai Havertz, Christos Tzolis, Max Dowman and Gabriel Jesus scored in the Girona vs Arsenal friendly as Mikel Arteta’s side produced an encouraging attacking display in Spain.
Girona started aggressively, but Arsenal took the lead after 15 minutes. Havertz was released through the middle and calmly finished beyond Paulo Gazzaniga to open the scoring.
Tzolis then marked his first public Arsenal appearance with a goal. Riccardo Calafiori carried possession forward before finding the Greek winger, who cut inside and fired low into the far corner after 30 minutes.
Arteta had already outlined the importance of managing his returning internationals. Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres and Piero Hincapie were consequently withdrawn during the first half after recently returning from World Cup duty.
ReadArsenal’s Girona vs Arsenal preview highlighted Tzolis and Dowman as two players to watch, and both made significant contributions.
Girona vs Arsenal ends in convincing Gunners win
Girona pulled one back five minutes after the restart when Arnau Martinez arrived unmarked to head beyond the Arsenal goalkeeper.
However, the response was immediate.
Dowman restored the two-goal advantage four minutes later. The teenager cut inside from the right before beating Gazzaniga with a low finish at the near post.
Jesus then completed Arsenal’s scoring just two minutes afterwards. The Brazilian raced onto a through ball and stretched ahead of the Girona defence to make it 4-1.
The Sun’s live coverage confirmed Arsenal comfortably managed the remainder of the game after their quick second-half double.
The result gives Arteta plenty of positives. Tzolis made an immediate impact, Dowman again demonstrated why he is pushing for senior minutes and Jesus found the net after replacing Gyokeres.
Arsenal now move on with another valuable pre-season victory secured.
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