Arsenal kicked off their second game of their pre-season campaign at the ANZ Stadium to face Western Sydney Wanderers.

After a cagey start to the match, the Gunners came away with a comfortable win in the end. With the first goal coming from Olivier Giroud right after the half an hour mark.

After that, the goals came flourishing in, with a goal from Aaron Ramsey just under 5 minutes later and a deflected goal from Mohamed Elneny just before the half-time whistle.

Going in to the second half, the Gunners failed to keep the momentum on their side as they failed to score and conceded from a cheap indirect free kick.

However, Arsene Wenger will still come away from this game happy after trialling some things differently. But which positives can the Gunners take?

It's not all about Lacazette

Following his first cameo in Arsenal's game against Sydney FC, a lot of people will have looked at their big money signing in excitement.

He enjoyed another good performance today, despite failing to score. He liked up with Nacho Monreal for Giroud's goal and he wowed the crowd with his footwork in the first five minutes.

But, full credit to Giroud, he scored today and shown that Arsenal fans shouldn't discount him from the team this season.

There's a lot of speculation surrounding Giroud's future at the moment, but he will look to make Arsene Wenger think twice about selling him and he could even challenge Lacazette for a spot in the first team.

Mohamed Elneny's versatility

For the second time in the last two matches, the Egyptian played in the heart of Arsenal's back three.

He impressed yet again, getting on the score sheet and almost getting a brace from the back, hitting the crossbar unluckily just after the first half.

His favoured position will still be the midfield role, of course. However, if Arsenal do become short at the back, Mohamed Elneny is another option to slot in at the back.

Nacho Monreal with two assists from the back

As we've seen quite often in Arsenal's new formation, the Spaniard was playing as the left sided centre back.

He's no stranger to this position, despite his favoured role being completely on the left flank. He did play as a centre back early on in his career and on international duty.

After a fiery end to the last campaign, Nacho Monreal has impressed once again in pre-season. He registered two assists from the back, one for Olivier Giroud's opener and, most notably, his cushioned long ball over the Wanderers defence to set Aaron Ramsey free and find the back of the net.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Kian Long
Arsenal fan. Follower of European football.