Arsenal's first Dubai Super Cup outing against French titans Lyon ended with a routine 3-0 win at the Al-Maktoum Stadium.
The game started as slowly as one might expect considering it comes after a lengthy break while others are away at the World Cup, with Reiss Nelson's effort that struck the post the only meaningful piece of action inside the opening 15 minutes.
However, Arsenal eventually found their rhythm and just four minutes after Nelson's strike the Gunners were in front courtesy of a bullet header from Gabriel Magalhaes following an inviting Martin Odegaard corner. Lyon can hardly consider themselves unfortunate to be a goal down, with Laurent Blanc's men failing to create anything of note.
Arsenal were operating like a well-oiled machine, with Odegaard pulling the strings and dictating the tempo of just about every attack. Just after the half-hour mark, the Gunners were two goals to the good as Eddie Nketiah bagged a much-needed goal in light of first-choice striker Gabriel Jesus' recent injury update.
Fabio Vieira put the result beyond any doubt with a spectacular third from distance after some delightful passing, but the attacking midfielder was hooked off at the interval in place of Brazilian teenager Marquinhos.
The quality of the performance would have pleased boss Mikel Arteta, who took the opportunity to hand many of the club's undere-21 stars some minutes - including Ethan Nwaneri, the youngest player in Premier League history after his first-team debut back in September.
Mirror Football has taken a look at five key talking points as Arsenal aim to lift some some mid-season silverware out in Dubai.
Nketiah passes first post-Jesus test
All eyes were on England's under-21 record goalscorer given the recent news surrounding Gabriel Jesus' upcoming lengthy spell on the sidelines after his knee surgery and his deputy Eddie Nketiah did not disappoint.
While it is unlikely that Nketiah will be able to recreate the kind of impact Jesus had and the way the Brazilian brings others into the game, the Gunners academy graduate has long been famed for his fox in the box, poaching ability.
With that being said, Nketiah did showcase some impressive hold-up play early on. Arteta was left sweating when he saw the 23-year-old striker go down clutching his ankle after a collision with Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
The 33rd minute saw Nketiah get the goal he'd have been so desperately craving, with an impressive Gunners counter-attack capped off by the forward guiding his strike into the bottom corner - sending Lopes the other way in the process.
Arteta goes strong
With his side sitting five points clear at the top of the Premier League after 14 games, Arteta can be forgiven for wanting to keep the momentum going despite the World Cup break.
As a result, the Gunners boss named as strong a side as realistically could for this mid-season friendly. First-team regulars such as Gabriel and Kieran Tierney featured alongside skipper Odegaard, £30million summer signing Vieira and midfield duo Albert Sambi Lokonga and Mohamed Elneny.
Nine changes from their last Premier League game doesn't acknowledge the level of experience from the eleven Arsenal players that started the game, with only shot-stopper Karl Hein boasting less than 3 Gunners appearances.
The strong selection proved to be an inspired decision from the boss, with Arsenal looking like a side at the top of the Premier League despite many of their usual first-team stars away on international duty.
Odegaard stars alongside Vieira
Many Arsenal fans questioned whether these two would ever be able to thrive in the same side, or would Fabio Vieira simply serve as Martin Odegaard's deputy.
A Vieira assist for an Odegaard goal in Arsenal's last league outing before the break went some way to ending that school of thought, but the pair impressed again against Lyon.
The best chance of the opening exchanges saw roles reversed as Vieira really should have bagged a goal following a perfectly weighted Odegaard pass, but the best the Portugal Under-21 international could do was fire straight at Lopes.
Operating out on the right-flank, Vieira got plenty of joy in the first-half, getting the assist for Arsenal's second, playing an inviting pass across the face of goal before Nketiah calmly slotted into the bottom-right corner.
Minutes later, the 22-year-old rifled home a thunderous effort from long-range to finish a move that featured some neat Odegaard passing to hand Arsenal a three-goal lead.
Return of a familiar face
It was only last summer that Alexandre Lacazette was bidding farewell to his Arsenal colleagues after five years in north London, but months later he shared the pitch with them once again - this time, in opposition colours.
Lacazette returned to Lyon, the club Arsenal initially signed him from in 2017, earlier this year and has so far massively impressed during his scond stint at the Groupama Stadium with nine goals in 15 Ligue 1 outings.
Though his campaign has been solid so far, Lacazette was anonymous for much of this contest with his old colleagues getting the better of him in rather embarrassing fashion for the Frenchman.
Lacazette failed to get the better of Arsenal's central defensive duo of Gabriel and Rob Holding, beforee being hooked off just after the hour mark in place of another former Gunners talent in Jeff Reine-Adelaide
Post-match penalties
Bizarrely, despite Arsenal winning the game in 90 minutes - there was still a penalty shoot-out after the game.
As part of the Dubai Super Cup's rather unconventional rules, while the tried and tested method of three points for a win is still in place, additional points are also on offer with a penalty shoot-out after each game regardless of the actual result.
The points system for this tournament is drastically different to the format most fans are familiar with, as extra points are on offer from the penalty shoot-out while a draw is actually worth two points instead of the traditional one.
Arsenal stepped up first, with Marquinhos rolling his spot-kick into the side-netting with an expertly-taken effort. Rene-Adelaide saw his effort stopped by Gunners 'keeper Hein to hand Arteta's men an early advantage.
Catalin Cirjan's 'panenka' was saved, but another save from Hein spared his blushes to keep the score 2-1 to Arsenal. The young shot-stopper ended up with four spot-kick saves saves as the Gunners ran out 2-1 winners on penalties to leave with an extra fourth point.
