Arsenal drew 1-1 with Como in their final pre-season friendly at the Emirates Stadium, winning the subsequent penalty shootout, with Myles Lewis-Skelly scoring and Bruno Guimaraes making his debut.
Lewis-Skelly opens the scoring
Just after the first-half drinks break, Lewis-Skelly capitalised on a mistake from Como goalkeeper Jean Butez. The clearance was met by the 19-year-old's head just outside the penalty area. Quick thinking from Gabriel Martinelli got the ball back to the midfielder, who made no mistake to put Arsenal 1-0 up.
But the Gunners wouldn't go ahead at half time, with Como making the most of a counter-attack. The ball made its way to Martin Baturina, who cut in from the left and gave Kepa Arrizabalaga no chance with a great finish to make it 1-1.
That's how the score stayed in the second half, despite chances for both sides. That meant that penalties were needed to separate the two sides, with summer signing Christos Tzolis scoring the decisive spot kick.
Guimaraes makes his debut
Bruno Guimaraes completed a £75 million move to Arsenal from Newcastle United last week. He has now played his first minutes in a red shirt, coming on at halftime to make his debut for the club, much to the delight of those at the Emirates Stadium.
He played a similar role to Declan Rice, playing just in front of Lewis-Skelly. As expected, Guimaraes was always eager to get on the ball and make something happen. He also got back well and helped prevent a counter-attack, leading to chants of 'Bruno' from the home crowd. His introduction did allow Lewis-Skelly to get forward a bit more often.
Defensive concerns persist
Despite not giving up many chances in the first half, Arteta would have been frustrated to concede one of the few that Como had. While it was a great finish, there may have been an argument that more could have done to stop the ball getting to that position in the first place.
Defensive concerns are something that has dominated pre-season, with the team having conceded three goals in each of their previous two games against Real Betis and Borussia Dortmund. It's something that Arsenal will want to tighten up going into Sunday's Community Shield.
If Arsenal give Man City chances, then they are likely to take them, even if the game is seen as a 'glorified friendly', losing to title rivals ahead of the start of the season could see morale take a big hit less than a week before the opening game.
Salmon impresses in defence
Marli Salmon was again given a chance to impress for Arsenal as he was named alongside Gabriel Magalhaes in the centre of defence. The injury to William Saliba has left Arteta short in the area.
They have been linked with an interest in Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa, but it seems the two teams are still far apart in their valuation. Salmon could provide a solution if Arsenal are unable to bring in a new defender in the transfer window, having impressed again against Como.
Despite being just 16, he earned praise for his composure, strength and willingness to step out of defence with the ball when needed. Either way, a decision will have to be made over his short-term future. But it will be a bit of a waiting game for Arsenal.
Players have to be on a professional contract to go out on loan, and they can't sign that contract until they are 17 years old. Salmon doesn't turn 17 until August 29, meaning that there will be just a few days for Arsenal to sort out a loan deal if they decide to send him out for valuable game time.
It will be less complicated for Theo Julienne, who made his first pre-season appearance by starting at left-back. The 18-year-old didn't look out of place, but a loan deal and regular game time this season may benefit him.
Nwaneri's chance in deeper role
Ethan Nwaneri is another player who may have been playing for a place in the starting XI for the season opener against Coventry City in under two weeks. Competition for places means that in the number 10 role, Nwaneri has Max Dowman, Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard currently in front of him in the pecking order.
With Declan Rice still not back after the World Cup, Nwaneri was given the chance to impress in a slightly deeper role. Lewis-Skelly sitting allowed him to go forward and help Eze in the number 10 role; there was then more of an interchange when Fabio Vieira was introduced after half an hour.
He caught the eye in the opening stages, often playing a big role in the high press, which led to some early chances. He did, however, fade as the half went on and was replaced by Bruno Guimaraes at halftime.
