A quick burst by Ainsley Maitland-Niles, a neat flick of the heel by Mesut Ozil and Alex Lacazette did the rest, curling home with his left foot to give Arsenal the lead against Al-Nasr.
The Frenchman enjoyed his chance to impress the local Arsenal contingent and says the five-days in Dubai have worked out well for all involved.
The travelling squad now return to England to meet up with those who’ve been on international duty before tackling eight games in the space of 29 days.
“It’s going to be difficult of course, but exciting as well,” Lacazette told Sport360 after the 3-2 win at the Al Maktoum stadium.
“It’s been a good battle all season so we just want to win every single game and finish third or fourth. It will be good for us and our fans.”
The striker was also supportive of the decision to jump on a plane for a warm weather training camp. “It was a good idea by the club to bring the players available here to Dubai,” he reflected.
“It’s been good weather, it was a good pitch, great facilities. Everyone enjoyed it and we worked well for one week.
“Now we have to come back to London and stay focused on the Premier League and Europa League.”
For the youngsters perhaps but the first team will have gained little.
I’d be really surprised if Laca’s confidence is really affected by a goal against a team most people havent heard of.
In fact, if anything there’s a negative that Mustafi ended up on his arse. That WILL affect confidence
I don’t really know how helpful warm weather training is but it probably has its benefits for them to take the squad there. If the guys are training harder and feeling fresher then what’s the harm.
Also it’s crazy presumptuous to say Mustafi will be affected by a mistake when he does something stupid every few games and shakes it off like it’s nothing. Like literally the next second. Just don’t read into friendlies any more than the opportunity it provides the manager to throw on some guys we’re not familiar with. Which is so great to see.
@ there is a negative Mustafi ended up on his arse. Hahahaha
@Hantal, you don’t see any benefit in having the first team work with some youngsters who we MAY need to call on especially considering the number of games we have in April? And even if we don’t need them, would you rather the team just sat around twiddling their thumbs waiting two weeks for the next game?
I’d prefer hard work on the training ground for sure
This has all the whiff of a fullfilling of sponsorship obligations whilst the interlull bores the rest of us to death. Call me cynical but I can’t get excited about this one way or the other.
That’s been my niggling suspicion too.
Shylock Holmes
And so what if it is…people moan about the club having no money and then when they do something that might be connected to sponsorship and money people still moan!
I’m not sure either of us were particularly moaning to be fair. Making an observation of the corporate nature of today’s football clubs would be more accurate. I’m not in anyway suggesting it’s having a negative impact on the players so not sure why you’ve interpreted it as moaning?
I’m not moaning, I said I’m not excited about this game either way.
Meanwhile, Xhaka scores for Switzerland, and at 3-0 up in the 79th minute is subbed off.
They end up drawing 3-3 with Denmark.
A screamer with his weaker foot as well
Xhakalakaboomboom! Cannon packed shots he’s got. Keep them coming, Bro.
Just exhibition and for the Sponsors.
Frankly not sure who is in charge with scheduling these lengthy International breaks. Surely we could have some of these matches scheduled in May or June.
This is a holiday nothing more.
Al Nasr hardly a test and more a shop window for some (Jenkinson, Pleguezuelo) and to gauge the hunger of the younger players.
No injuries to take home the key thing.