By Marc Jones; Reuters.
Arsenal started their Premier League title defence with a bang by sweeping aside newly-promoted Coventry City with a dominant performance in a 3-0 home win on Friday.
The last time the London side retained the top-flight title was in 1935 but it took just 15 minutes for Kai Havertz to show Arsenal’s intent as he coolly guided a Riccardo Calafiori cross into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the box.
New signing Christos Tzolis made the second goal eight minutes later in what was an impressive league debut for the Greek international following his signing from Club Brugge.
Tzolis was found out wide by Declan Rice after a break from defence and his quick low cross could only be parried by goalkeeper Carl Rushworth for the waiting Bukayo Saka to tap in.
Coventry, who are back in the Premier League after a 25-year absence, had to stay patient as Arsenal dominated possession, but they came close at the end of the first half with a looping overhead kick that had keeper David Raya scrambling to get back.
Arsenal effectively killed the game off four minutes into the second period when captain Martin Odegaard grabbed a third with a scuffed finish that wrong-footed Rushworth.
Mikel Arteta’s side had a blizzard of other chances as they pressed forward but Coventry could have nicked a consolation goal with five minutes to go when a cross found Jack Rudoni unmarked but he could only head into Raya’s arms.