We kicked off our 2026/27 preparations with a 3-0 victory over MK Dons in a behind-closed-doors contest at the Sobha Realty Training Centre.
Reiss Nelson opened the scoring, set up by new signing Christos Tzolis on his debut, before Ethan Nwaneri curled in a fine second just before the break.
In a much-changed second half line-up, Ceadach O’Neill got on the end of Demiane Agustien’s ball over the top to rifle home and round off a fine afternoon’s work.
TZOLIS MAKES BRIGHT START
Credit: Isabel Falle
We almost took the lead within 60 seconds with our new winger, Tzolis, immediately involved in the action, feeding Nelson inside the box, but his effort was well blocked by MK Dons stopper Craig MacGillivray.
The Greek winger continued to cause trouble down the left, linking up well with left-back Riccardo Calafiori to create the opening goal.
The duo played the ball around the MK Dons defence before Tzolis found Nelson once more and this time, the Englishman made no mistake, smashing into the bottom corner after 10 minutes.
On the opposite wing was Max Dowman, who was a bright spark throughout the first half, finding Nelson with a fantastic crossfield pass. Having already netted one, Nelson looked for another before finding his shot well blocked by the MK Dons backline.
Credit: Isabel Falle
The newly promoted League One club went in search of getting back into the game and almost had it through forward Callum Paterson.
The experienced Scot latched onto his own flick-on before finding Kepa Arrizabalaga in the way as the Spaniard denied a certain goal from close range.
We made our overall dominance count with a second effort on 39 minutes through Nwaneri.
A well-worked corner found its way to Ethan on the edge of the box, and the attacker curled his shot into the bottom corner and beyond MacGillivray.
CHANGES BRING CHANCES
Credit: Isabel Falle
Our second half side took on a more youthful feel, with Mikel Arteta making eight changes to the first half side. Only Kepa, Marli Salmon and Louie Copley, filling in at right back, remained at the start of the second half.
The visitors created a number of chances, with defender Jack Burke and winger Rushian Hepburn-Murphy both firing over as good opportunities fell to both players at the back post from dangerous crosses.
A triple change on the hour mark saw another summer signing, Illan Meslier, come on for his debut, with academy products Theo Julienne and Marcell Washington also coming on for Salmon and Copley.
Cohen Bramall, a former academy graduate, was involved for MK Dons, and his whipped free-kick was met by Paterson, but the forward could not direct his header on target.
Our first big chance of the second half resulted in our third goal of the contest. A fine chipped ball over the top from Agustien found O’Neill, who latched onto the pass and rifled into the near post beyond MacGillivray.
Our young side almost added to the scoresheet with a flurry of late chances. First, Ismeal Kabia laid the ball off to striker Evan Mooney, who thumped a powerful effort off the underside of the bar with the goalkeeper beaten.
Kabia then almost added a goal himself after being slipped through by Northern Ireland international O’Neill, but could only fire at MacGillivray.
There was one last chance, which fell to the visitors, as Daniel Barlaser drilled a low effort which was well saved by our new goalkeeper to preserve a clean sheet as we head to Girona for our pre-season training camp.
LINE-UPS:
Arsenal first half: Arrizabalaga, Copley, Mosquera, Salmon, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri, Nelson, Dowman, Tzolis, Jesus
Arsenal second half: Arrizabalaga (Meslier 59′), Ogunnaike, Salmon (Julienne 59′), Clarke, Copley (Washington 59′), Ibrahim, Agustien, O’Neill, Harriman-Annous, Kabia, Mooney
MK Dons: MacGillivray, Burke, Barlaser, Kelly, Wiles, Paterson, Nelson, Bramall, Hepburn-Murphy, Lewis-Burgess (Singh-Hurditt 46′), Ekpiteta
