Arsenal summer signing Riccardo Calafiori has made an impressive start to life at the Emirates Stadium, and he marked his first start for the Gunners in some style yesterday with a superb goal in the 2-2 draw away to Manchester City.
The Italy international joined Arsenal from Bologna this summer, and he’s had some decent substitute appearances for Mikel Arteta’s side so far this season, before being handed his full debut in yesterday’s big game.
Still, the occasion clearly didn’t get to Calafiori, who side-footed in a delightful effort from outside the box to make it 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium after Erling Haaland’s early opening goal for the home side.
According to Opta in the X post below, Calafiori is now just the second Arsenal player ever to score from outside the box on his full Premier League debut for the north London club…
20 – Riccardo Calafiori is the 20th player to score on his first Premier League start for Arsenal, but only the second of those to do so with a goal from outside the box, after Fábio Vieira against Brentford in September 2022. Introduction. pic.twitter.com/ds08BLbAFW
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 22, 2024
Calafiori looks like he’s going to be a great signing for Arsenal, with the 22-year-old surely still likely to improve in the years to come, with Arteta surely the kind of coach who can really get the best out of him.
Arsenal ended up going 2-1 up through Gabriel Magalhaes as he headed home a trademark AFC corner, but they were denied what would have been a famous victory with just ten men as John Stones drew City level deep into stoppage time.
Still, Arsenal have plenty of positives to take from this game, and Calafiori’s sublime strike and all-round performance will be among the highlights.
It can’t have been easy for Calafiori to make his first Premier League start against such a formidable opponent, but he handled the occasion well, and he’ll be a joy for Gooners to watch if he comes up with a few more strikes like that lovely effort in the 22nd minute.
This result capped a decent end to a challenging run of fixtures for Arsenal, who won 1-0 away to Tottenham last weekend and drew 0-0 away to Atalanta in the Champions League in mid-week.
Their next games are at home to Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup, before then welcoming Leicester City to the Emirates in their next league game.