General news
Arsenal vs. Lyon live score, updates, highlights & lineups from mid-season friendly
Maktoum Stadium in Dubai
Arsenal’s preparations for the return of competitive club football will ramp up in the coming weeks, as the Gunners, along with several other European clubs, take part in friendly matches at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai, UAE. They’ll take on French side Lyon in the first of these games, before facing AC Milan five days later.
Premier League
The Gunners are the team to beat in the Premier League so far, leading the way by five points over the World Cup break. Mikel Arteta’s side’s closest challengers are Manchester City after 14 games played, and this month-long mid-season break will hopefully give Arsenal the best possible preparation to successfully see out a title charge in the remaining 24.
West Ham
Arsenal’s first game back comes against West Ham on Boxing Day, where they’ll look to add to their healthy lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners have topped the league at Christmas five times previous, failing to eventually win the title in all five of those. A good start to the resumption is exactly what Arteta and his side need in order to make it sixth time lucky, and these friendlies could end up playing a significant part in their preparation to do so.
Premier League
Lyon will be no easy-beats though, with the French side no strangers to an upset, particularly over English sides. Whilst this is of course an uncompetitive match, Lyon famously dumped current Premier League champions Manchester City out of the Champions League two seasons ago, and have the bulk of their squad available for this game, with only Nicolas Tagliafico and Karl Toro Ekambi away on World Cup duty.
Sporting News
Sporting News is following the match live and providing live score updates, commentary.
Europa League
MORE: Arsenal’s path through the Europa League knockouts revealed in last 16 draw.
Arsenal vs. Lyon live score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Arsenal | 3 | — | — |
| Lyon | 0 | — | — |
Goals:
Arsenal — Gabriel Magalhaes (Martin Odegaard) — 19th min.
Arsenal — Eddie Nketiah (Fabio Vieira) — 33rd min.
Arsenal — Fabio Vieira (Reiss Nelson) — 39th min.
Arsenal vs. Lyon live updates, highlights from mid-season friendly
Sale Kumbedi
69 mins: Lyon substitute Sale Kumbedi floats a cross into the area, and Moussa Dembele meets the ball with a lovely cushioned header back across goal, which beats Arsenal goalkeeper Karl Hein before flying wide of the far post!
68 mins: Arsenal make a large raft of substitutions, bringing on a whole host of young players with the game all-but won!
67 mins: A headed ball clear falls to Rayan Cherki, who looks to catch Karl Hein off guard in the Arsenal goal with a volley, but he woefully miscues his shot and sprays it nearer to the corner flag than the goal!
64 mins: WIDE!!! Tierney clips a clever pass into the centre of the box, which sees Anthony Lopes and Eddie Nketiah collide as the pair chase it! The loose ball falls to Marquinhos, who has an open net to aim at, but he snatches at his shot and it flashes into the side netting!
Thiago Mendes and Rayan Cherki
62 mins: Several substitutes enter the fray for Lyon, including Thiago Mendes and Rayan Cherki, with coach Laurent Blanc hoping an influx of fresh legs can spark something resembling a comeback by his side.
59 mins: Sambi Lokonga’s through ball has Reiss Nelson searing after it, and he cuts it back to the centre, but a deflection takes the pace off the ball and Anthony Lopes dives on it before Eddie Nketiah can pounce!
Reiss Nelson
57 mins: WIDE!!! A ball from the right is brought down by Reiss Nelson, who has far too much space in Lyon’s box. He’s eventually forced off the ball and Kieran Tierney finds Mohamed Elneny, whose effort from just inside the area flies wide of the target! That looked easier to score than miss!
Mohamed Elneny
55 mins: OFF THE BAR!!! Move good play from Arsenal sees Mohamed Elneny free up Marquinhos down the right. He cuts inside onto his left foot and fires thunderous strike towards goal, which is tipped onto the crossbar by Anthony Lopes at full stretch!
Fabio Vieira
53 mins: Marquinhos, on for Fabio Vieira, dribbles down the right for the Gunners, but his cut-back for Martin Odegaard is intercepted and cleared.
Eddie Nketiah
51 mins: Eddie Nketiah races in behind the defence and is one-on-one with Anthony Lopes, but he’s flagged for offside before he can attempt to beat the ‘keeper.
Eddie Nketiah
50 mins: Eddie Nketiah looks to turn Castello Lekuba on halfway with space in behind, but he’s taken to ground by the Lyon centre-back and wins the free-kick.
47 mins: Alexandre Lacazette picks up the ball in space and turns for goal, firing a dipping effort just over the crossbar from 25 yards!
46 mins: The teams have made their way back onto the pitch, and Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette will kick the second half off against his former club!
Mikel Arteta and Laurent Blanc
HT: That half may have been an absolute stroll for Arsenal, but we are likely to see several changes from both sides in the second half. Being a friendly, coaches Mikel Arteta and Laurent Blanc may well want to try out new combinations, as well as test their respective fringe players, and these changes could well disrupt Arsenal’s flow, while likewise sparking Lyon into life.
Back in the groove 😎
We lead at the break, Gooners 👊
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 8, 2022
46 mins: HALF-TIME: Arsenal 3-0 Lyon. That’s half-time, and it’s been the plainest of sailing for Arsenal, who hold a commanding three-goal lead at the break. It’s been so, so one-sided, with the Gunners having the freedom of the UAE to go about their business, and they’ve certainly done that so far.
Fabio Vieira
Gabriel’s early header was an absolute belter, and with Lyon seemingly on the ropes, Arsenal soon added two more in quick succession. Fabio Vieira played a massive part in both, teeing up Eddie Nketiah to slot home their second, before smashing a piledriver of a shot into the top corner to extend his side’s advantage to three at the break.
45 mins: We’ll play one additional minute to bring an end to this first half.
Martin Odegaard
43 mins: A floated ball forward from Martin Odegaard looks for Eddie Nketiah running in behind, but Malo Gusto gets across well and shields the ball for Lyon.
Cedric Soares
41 mins: Arsenal win another corner and Cedric Soares whips the ball into the box. Gabriel meets it at the far post, looking for his second goal, but he glances his header to the wrong side of the post and it goes behind!
⚫️ 3 – 0 ⚪️ (38)
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 8, 2022
39 mins: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!! Arsenal 3-0 Lyon! What a strike!!!! The Gunners move the ball with vigour down the right, playing tiki taka-like football as they pass it into the box. Reiss Nelson lays it off to Fabio Vieira on the edge, and he rifles an absolute screamer into the top corner to score Arsenal’s third goal, and that’s by far the pick of the bunch!
Alexandre Lacazette
38 mins: Henrique crosses in from the left for Lyon, aiming for Alexandre Lacazette, but the former Arsenal striker can’t direct his header on target and it skews wide.
35 mins: Lyon come forward through Moussa Dembele, who surges towards the box and tries his luck from 20 yards, sending a fizzing effort just over the top of the bar!
Alexandre Lacazette
33 mins: GOOOOOAAALLL!!!!! Arsenal 2-0 Lyon! Arsenal double their advantage with some fluid counter-attacking football! Alexandre Lacazette can’t find room for a shot and loses the ball, which is hit long by Sambi Lokonga. Fabio Vieira is in acres of space and runs onto it, before squaring to the unmarked Eddie Nketiah in the box, who rolls the ball into the far corner of the net!
Eddie Nketiah
32 mins: An Arsenal ball is floated over the top and Eddie Nketiah sprints after it. He looks to lift the ball over the onrushing Anthony Lopes, and does so, but it’s cleared by Les Gones’ defenders before Martin Odegaard can pounce.
30 mins: We’ve stopped for a quick water break given the hot, humid conditions in Dubai, and after a few minutes, the players return to resume proceedings!
Martin Odegaard
27 mins: A pass across the edge of the box is dummied by Martin Odegaard and drops to Fabio Vieira. He looks to bend a shot into the far corner, but gets his strike woefully wrong and drags it wide of the near post!
Gabriel gives us the lead with a towering header! ⚽️
⚫️ 1 – 0⚪️ (19)
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 8, 2022
After Alexandre Lacazette
24 mins: After Alexandre Lacazette can’t create room to shoot in the Arsenal box, the Gunners counter at speed. Some quick-fire passing sees Kieran Tierney advance onto the ball in the box, and his shot from a tight angle is deflected behind for a corner!
Sambi Lokonga
21 mins: Sambi Lokonga slaloms through the Lyon midfield all too easily and feeds Eddie Nketiah in the box. He looks to find shooting space but is unable to do so, and has to pass back to Fabio Vieira before the Gunners lose the ball.
Martin Odegaard
19 mins: GOOOOOAAALLL!!!! Arsenal 1-0 Lyon!!! What a thumping header that was!!! From the corner, Martin Odegaard’s ball into the box is met by Gabriel, who gets his header right this time and powers it beyond everyone and into the back of the net!!! A superb leap and finish from the Brazilian, and Arsenal lead Lyon in Dubai!
Sambi Lokonga
17 mins: SAVED!!! Sambi Lokonga wins the ball in Lyon’s half and feeds Martin Odegaard. He lays it off to Fabio Vieira in the box, whose close-range shot is well parried by Anthony Lopes!
Fabio Vieira
15 mins: Fabio Vieira is found on the right flank by another beauty of a cross-field pass, and he tees Cedric Soares up to cross. The right-back does so, and the ball falls straight to Sambi Lokonga, but the midfielder mis-times his shot and skews it well away from the target!
Reiss Nelson
13 mins: OVER!!! Reiss Nelson wins a free-kick, which Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard crosses into the box. Gabriel ghosts in behind the defence and has a free header, but can only send the ball over the crossbar from close range!
10 mins: Lyon make a break of their own as Faivre charges forward with the ball. His options are blocked off, so the midfielder tries his luck, and a wicked deflection takes the ball behind for a corner!
Reiss Nelson
9 mins: A huge tackle in defence robs Lyon of the ball, and Arsenal surge forward on the counter. Reiss Nelson looks to find Sambi Lokonga bursting into the box, but a deflection takes the ball into the gloves of Anthony Lopes.
Eddie Nketiah
8 mins: Arsenal win the ball in the final third and it comes to Eddie Nketiah again, who is in space down the left. He looks to curl an effort inside the far post, but flashes the ball across the face of goal and wide!
OFF THE POST
7 mins: OFF THE POST!!! A ball in behind is raced onto by Nketiah, who glides into the box untouched before squaring to Reiss Nelson. He lashes a left-footed shot towards goal, but it rattles off the base of the post and goes behind!
Mohamed Elneny
5 mins: Mohamed Elneny floats a fantastic cross-field pass to the left wing, and Kieran Tierney rushes onto it. He looks to play in Eddie Nketiah, but Sinaly Diomande gets in the way to deny him for Lyon.
Romain Faivre
3 mins: Romain Faivre looks to turn and advance through midfield but is clipped by Mohamed Elneny, and the Egyptian is penalised for Arsenal.
Kick-Off: Arsenal kick us off, as Eddie Nketiah gets the game underway in Dubai!
1′ Game on!
Catch the live on @OLPLAY_Officiel #DubaiSuperCup pic.twitter.com/3SUaBgnGUz
— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) December 8, 2022
5 mins from kickoff: The stadium is slowly filling up as we wait for the teams to enter, and the players leave the tunnel as we await the game getting underway!
Dubai Super Cup
10 mins from kickoff: This ‘friendly’ is part of the ‘Dubai Super Cup’ tournament, in which each side will play two games. The Gunners face Milan five days after this game, while Lyon will play Liverpool, and there’ll also be a penalty shoot-out after every single match regardless of the result!
Match Pass
⚡️𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 ⚡️
🧤 Hein between the posts
💪 Sambi starts in midfield
🎯 Eddie leads the line
📺 Get your Match Pass on https://t.co/4KJlfLdIj1 to watch the action LIVE pic.twitter.com/ctugaZz7WT
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 8, 2022
15 mins from kickoff: We’re not far from Qatar, where there’s no World Cup action happening today, but the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai is poised and ready to see these two sides head out onto the pitch!
World Cup
30 mins from kickoff: Lyon are only missing two players in Qatar though, and as a result have a near full-strength squad available. World Cup winner Corentin Tolisso starts in midfield, and as expected, Les Gones are captained and spearheaded in attack by Alexandre Lacazette, who of course spent five seasons at the Emirates from 2017 to the summer of 2022.
🦁 Notre 𝗫𝗜 𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲́𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 pour affronter Arsenal 👊🔴🔵#ARSOL #DubaiSuperCup pic.twitter.com/ebQJa58ZRa
— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) December 8, 2022
World Cup
45 mins from kickoff: The Gunners are missing 10 first-team players due to the World Cup, with five of these players having returned due to elimination or injury. Still, they’re taken a strong squad with them to their mid-season camp in Dubai, led by enigmatic captain Martin Odegaard.
Champions League
60 mins from kickoff: Lyon, however, haven’t had the start they’d have wanted, and sit down in eighth in France‘s top-flight. They’re a whopping 20 points behind leaders PSG already, and still another 10 from the Champions League places.
Al-Maktoum Stadium
📍 Al-Maktoum Stadium#ARSOL #DubaiSuperCup pic.twitter.com/a2Sq5RMjV0
— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) December 8, 2022
Premier League
75 mins from kickoff: The Gunners have enjoyed a good start to the 2022-23 season, and lead the chasing pack in the Premier League by five points. They’ll certainly want to hit the ground running once the season re-starts later this month, and will hope this friendly helps prepare them to do so.
Maktoum Stadium in Dubai
90 mins from kickoff: Hello, and welcome to live coverage of this friendly match from the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai, UAE. Premier League leaders Arsenal face Ligue 1’s Lyon, as both sides step up their preparations for the return of football after the World Cup.
🗓 Tomorrow…
🎟️ Get your match pass as we take on Lyon in Dubai Super Cup 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 7, 2022
Arsenal vs. Lyon lineups
Qatar World Cup
Arsenal’s squad saw 10 of its players leave to play in the Qatar World Cup, the fifth-most of any Premier League club, with half of the Gunners’ contestants still in with a chance of playing at least once more for each of their respective countries. Ghana, USA, and Japan‘s eliminations mean Thomas Partey, Matt Turner and Takehiro Tomiyasu will all be returning to north London, while Ben White withdrew from the England squad for personal reasons, and is back in the capital already.
Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Jesus, one of the Gunners’ key men so far this season, unfortunately picked up an injury playing for Brazil, and has had to return home with an expected lay-off period of up to three months. This means that Arsenal may need to look for alternatives in the upcoming January transfer window, and this friendy sees attacking players such as Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson given a chance to step up in the Brazilian’s absence.
Karl Hein
Arsenal confirmed lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): 31. Karl Hein — 17. Cedric Soares, 16. Rob Holding, 6. Gabriel Magalhaes, 3. Kieran Tierney — 25. Mohamed Elneny, 23. Albert Sambi Lokonga — 24. Reiss Nelson, 8. Martin Odegaard, 21. Fabio Vieira — 14. Eddie Nketiah.
James Hillson
Arsenal subs: 56. James Hillson, 50. Taylor Foran, 97. Reuell Walters, 96. Lino Sousa, 72. Matt Smith, 44. Catalin Cirjan, 81. Myles Lewis-Skelly, 85. Amario Cozier-Duberry, 83. Ethan Nwaneri, 27. Marquinhos, 71. Charles Sagor Jr, 43. Nathan Butler-Oyedeji.
World Cup
Given the situation of players returning from World Cup duty and it being a mid-season friendly, predicting the teams for this one isn’t the easiest task. The Sporting News looks at how Lyon lineup with the players at their disposal, with Les Gones’ squad likely to include former Arsenal frontman Alexandre Lacazette.
Anthony Lopes
Lyon confirmed lineup (4-1-2-1-2, right to left): 1. Anthony Lopes — 27. Malo Gusto, 2. Sinaly Diomande, 4. Castello Lukeba, 12. Henrique — 88. Corentin Tolisso — 6. Maxence Caqueret, 15. Romain Faivre — 8. Houssem Aouar — 9. Moussa Dembele, 10. Alexandre Lacazette.
Remi Riou
Lyon subs: 35. Remi Riou, 40. Kayne Bonnevie, 21. Damien Da Silva, 20. Sael Kumbedi, 33. Achraf Laaziri, 36. Mamadou Sarr, 24. Johann Lepenant, 23. Thiago Mendes, 22. Jeff Reine-Adelaide, 26. Bradley Barcola, 18. Rayan Cherki, 11. Tete.
MORE: Arsenal’s World Cup players, who’s in Qatar, and who’s staying at home?
Dubai Super Cup
Dubai Super Cup: Why will there be a penalty shoot-out in Arsenal vs. Lyon?
Dubai Super Cup
The set of friendlies these two sides are involved in is the ‘Dubai Super Cup’, and also features both Liverpool and AC Milan. They’ll each play two games in a round-robin tournament, in which they’ll get the customary three points for a win, and two, rather than one, for a draw.
However, penalty shoot-outs will take place after each of the four games, with the winners of the shoot-out gaining an extra ‘bonus’ point. This will help the sides to accumulate points, with the side who finish top of the four-team table crowned champions.
How to watch Arsenal vs. Lyon
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| Date | Thurs, December 8 |
Thurs, December 8 |
Thurs, December 8 |
Fri, December 9 |
| Time | 15:30 GMT | 10:30 ET | 10:30 ET | 02:30 AEDT |
This match is not being shown on any UK TV channels but is available to stream via Arsenal’s club website, Arsenal.com. A live feed of the match can be purchased from this website, which is pay-per-view, and accessible on the Arsenal app or website.
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