Arsenal’s forgotten man Mohamed Elneny popped up with a goal in a 4-1 pre-season win against MK Dons on Tuesday.
The Egypt international, whose last competitive match for the Gunners came in a 3-1 victory over Burnley in May 2019, started alongside Granit Xhaka in midfield.
Elneny broke the deadlock in the fourth minute when he capitalised on a wayward pass from MK Dons goalkeeper Lee Nicholls to hit the ball into an empty net from 40 yards.
Arsenal doubled their lead just six minutes later as Bukayo Saka’s cutback found Eddie Nketiah, whose first-time shot beat Nicholls.
MK Dons got themselves back into the game in fortuitous circumstances before the break.
Former Manchester United defender Regan Poole’s cross was aimed for Carlton Morris, but Rob Holding got his head to the ball and inadvertently directed it past a helpless Bernd Leno in stunning fashion.
Video: Rob Holding with a powerful header to score.. at the wrong end.
#afcpic.twitter.com/aCnACssCiI
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 25, 2020
Mark McGuinness and Reiss Nelson added second-half goals to make it a routine victory for Arsenal.
Holding was playing alongside Arsenal new boy William Saliba, who joined for £25million from Saint-Etienne last summer, but spent the 2019/20 season back on loan at the French club.
After initially struggling to break into Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side, Holding played a key role in their run-in last term.
The former Bolton centre-back played the full 90 minutes in the Gunners’ 2-1 FA Cup final win over Chelsea.