Bruno Guimaraes Debuts But Arsenal And Como Play Out 1-1 Draw

Guimaraes makes Arsenal debut

Arsenal held by Como inf final pre-season friendly at Emirates as Bruno Guimaraes debuts ahead of Community Shield.

Arsenal 1-1 Como, Guimaraes debuts, Gunners win penalty shootout 4-3...

Bruno Guimaraes debuted for Arsenal on Wednesday as the Premier League champions were pegged back to a 1-1 draw by Como in their last pre-season friendly at the Emirates.

The £75m summer signing from Newcastle came on at half-time. Myles Lewis-Skelly had put Arsenal ahead before Martin Baturina levelled for the Serie A side.

Lewis-Skelly opened the scoring after capitalising on a mistake from Como keeper Jean Butez. The goal comes amid growing speculation that the 19-year-old midfielder could be on his way out of Arsenal. 

He marked it with a heart gesture to the crowd in what was Arsenal’s final warm-up before facing Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.

Guimaraes got a warm reception from the Emirates faithful after coming on, but Arsenal couldn’t find a second. Baturina had already pulled Como level before the break with a strike past Kepa Arrizabalaga.

“He only had three training sessions, but he looked good,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta of Guimaraes. “He was really pushing to play some minutes today.

“I think he wanted to get his debut and the feeling of playing in front of our fans immediately.

“And, yeah, you sense immediately, I believe, a strong connection at play that is going to make us better.”

Looking ahead to the Community Shield, Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino spoke to the club’s social media and said: “It's another final and we want to win, we want to give the fans more happiness.”

“But especially for us, we want to compete. Wearing this shirt and this badge means a lot and that's about giving everything and playing to our best capacity.”

Making his impact immediately 💥

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 12, 2026

Arteta kept Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi out of the squad despite all three returning from international duty this week. There were still first pre-season minutes though for Eberechi Eze, David Raya, Mikel Merino and Noni Madueke.

After full-time the teams went to penalties, with Arsenal edging it 4-3. New arrival Christos Tzolis stepped up and slammed home the winning spot-kick.