Solid Calafiori records clean sheet on Arsenal return | OneFootball

Riccardo Calafiori went straight back into the starting XI for Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, following a month without an appearance due to injury.

The Italy international missed six matches across all competitions before the international break, including Arsenal’s last four Premier League outings and individual matches against Inter and Preston North End in the Champions League and EFL Cup respectively.

He was also not included in Luciano Spalletti’s recent Italy squad for the 1-0 win against Belgium and the 3-1 loss against France in the Nations League.

Calafiori clean sheet on Arsenal return

Warm-ups at the Emirates Stadium ahead of Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League (picture @arsenal via X)

Back into the Arsenal starting line-up, at left-back again, Calafiori marked his return to domestic action with a clean sheet in a 3-0 victory.

He was tasked with keeping an eye on former Manchester United forward Anthony Elnaga, who threatened once or twice, but Calafiori came out the more successful in that particular battle.

The 22-year-old played for 66 minutes before being replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko for the remaining third of the game. Arsenal were 2-0 up at the time of Calafiori’s substitutions.

The eventual 3-0 win was Arsenal’s 2000th victory in top flight competition.