Arsenal vs Sevilla: Five things we learned as Gunners lift Emirates Cup despite loss thanks to bizarre points system

Mathematics were on the Gunners' side as they won the preseason tournament

Lacazette scored his first goal at the Emirates (Getty)

Arsenal lifted the Emirates Cup despite losing 2-1 to Sevilla on a mathematically-perverse afternoon in north London.

The tournament hosts, fresh from a breezy victory against Benfica on Saturday, found things far tougher against Eduardo Berizzo’s side, who punctured their defences with two high-quality goals in the second half.

Joaquín Correa opened the scoring, guiding the ball home after a slick passing move down the Arsenal right, before Alexandre Lacazette restored parity from close range.

But Steven N’Zonzi ended Arsenal’s resistance with a breathtakingly nonchalant strike, clipping the ball left-footed past Petr Čech and just inside the post from the edge of the box.

Here are five things we learned:

1. It doesn’t count when the system’s rigged

Unless Arsène Wenger contracts a bad case of Mourinhitis, he will not count this trophy in his final tally at the end of the season. Quite right too, particularly because the rulebook for the Emirates Cup was their best player on Sunday.

For the uninitiated: in Arsenal’s annual pre-season house party, teams earn an extra point for every goal they score, as well as the usual spoils for wins and draws. It meant that the Gunners took this historic trophy home for the fifth time, despite the fact that Sevilla won both of their matches.

Wenger has often made reference to his Cruyffian conviction that results do not tell the whole a story about a team or a project. Finally, he has been proven correct.

The Gunners took the lead at home (Getty)

2. New(ish) system provokes cautious optimism

When a manager swaps a back four for a three-man system, much of the focus is inevitably on the defensive personnel. Does the new formation suit the centre-backs? Do the wing-backs have the energy and wherewithal to dominate their flanks? These are relevant questions and ones that remain open as far as Arsenal’s 3-4-2-1 is concerned. (A fair assessment must wait for a time when Mohamed Elneny is not the lynchpin of the backline.)

But what was clear on Sunday was how much the system suits those in central and attacking areas. Mesut Özil has the runners he needs to act as puppet master. Aaron Ramsey can break the lines, safe in the knowledge that there is cover in behind. Danny Welbeck – endearingly busy if a touch haphazard here – has freedom to roam and open up that gazelle’s stride.

Ozil acts as the puppetmaster behind the strikers (Getty)

Naturally there will be teething troubles. There were times – especially when their opponents dropped deep – when it all got a bit crowded, Lacazette looking a bit bemused to find himself in an attacking line of six, strung out across the Sevilla box like fairy lights. But the signs are promising. Factor in Alexis Sánchez (maybe) and it looks like a good recipe.

3. Banega’s talking feet light up the Emirates

Éver Banega has never won a league title. He has rarely had star billing for club or country. He is not cited in conversations about the world’s best central midfielders.

This is all irrelevant. For Banega is one of those players who, no matter the context, has the ability to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He occasionally does spectacular things, sure, but mainly he does simple things with spectacular craft, sprinkling a football match with magic dust for no real reason beyond the fact that he can.

He was the best player in a muted first half, skipping and hopscotching his way around the field in search of angles and mischief. There were subtle changes of direction and clipped balls to the flanks. A pass of laughable vision almost created the opener before the break; Wissam Ben Yedder’s shot thudded against the base of the post. When he departed on the hour mark, the game lost a little of its spark.

Banega has previously been linked with a move to Manchester United (Getty)

4. Lacazette doesn’t need many chances

The Frenchman’s name was met with a roar before kick-off, but his first-half display was fairly muted. He had reason to expect better service from Welbeck on occasion, but his contribution was summed up by two attempts to release Héctor Bellerín: the first went straight to a defender and the second went straight out of play.

But Lacazette was more involved after the interval. He brought a plunging save from Sergio Rico after tidy build-up play involving Ramsey and Özil, then swept home the equaliser from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross. Quiet but then deadly and decisive: if that’s the bargain on offer, Gunners fans will surely sign up wholeheartedly.

5. Burke the next big thing at RB Hypezig

Those with the commitment to arrive earlier in the afternoon had been rewarded with the dubious treat of a de facto third-place play-off between RB Leipzig and Benfica. With Naby Keïta and most of the Portuguese side’s stars conspicuous by their absence, it was left to flying Scotsman Oliver Burke to catch the eye with a display of real muscle and vim.

Scotsman Oliver Burke could be the next big thing at RB Leipzig (Getty)

There is something of the farm hand about Burke, both visually and in terms of his skill set, his oeuvre not so much channel-running as channel-mowing, channel-husbandry. He made life miserable for the Benfica defenders here, barging and levering himself into positions from which he could motor into the open fields, afterburners ablaze.

If and when Keïta does end up leaving Saxony, the next cab off the rank is likely to Emil Forsberg, the Swedish schemer who racked up the best part of a hundred assists last season. But Burke, on this compelling evidence, cannot be far from being sucked into the Premier League’s transfer orbit. The RB Hypezig bandwagon could have a couple of summers in it yet.