Ben White starts as Arsenal beat AC Milan in friendly

BACK IN ACTION: AC Milan's Croatian forward Ante Rebic (right) and Arsenal's English defender Ben White during the AC Milan and Arsenal friendly match at the Dubai Super Cup 2022, at the al-Maktoum stadium in the Gulf emirate. Pic:  Karim Sahib/AFP via Getty Images

Ben White and Thomas Partey went straight back into first team action for Arsenal in a friendly against AC Milan in Dubai on Tuesday.

Arsenal did enough to follow their win over Lyon last week with another relatively comfortable victory as they beat the reigning Serie A champions 2-1 with goals from Martin Odegaard and Reiss Nelson

White left England's World Cup camp early for personal reasons while Partey endured the disappointment of a surprise group stage exit with Ghana.

But Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had no hesitation in including the pair after just two days of training back with his Premier League leaders.

The Spanish coach said: “We are very pleased to have Ben back. Everybody has been giving him a lot of support and love. We know the reasons he had to leave the camp. We are delighted to have him back and he looked in really good shape.” 

Asked about the speculation surrounding White's England exit, Arteta commented: “We can’t control that. I know who Ben is, what he needs, what his character is and how happy we all are to have him at the club.

“On Thomas, he played a lot in Qatar and he was disappointed the way he had to leave the World Cup but it happens to every nation that they are out.

“It takes a few days to reset and to focus on the team. The good thing we have is that everybody has been showing that they are desperate to get back as quick as possible. It was really good to have those two back today playing some minutes.”

Next to rejoin the Arsenal family will be Bukayo Saka and keeper Aaron Ramsdale. Defender William Saliba is still on duty with France.

Arteta added: “They will take a few more days. Granit Xhaka [Switzerland's captain) is already here. He is already training and willing to participate on the weekend. We don’t have that many away now so it’s a positive thing.” 

On the pitch, Milan started well and Divock Origi, the former Liverpool forward, bent a right-foot shot against the Arsenal crossbar as the Italian side started on top.

Arsenal recovered and were good value for their 21st minute lead when captain Odegaard scored with a perfectly executed dipping left foot free-kick from the edge of the area.

The Norway international was then involved in Arsenal's second, in the 43rd minute, when the ball deflected off him into the Milan net after a Reiss Nelson shot.

Arteta made a planned withdrawal of his World Cup men White and Partey at half-time and sent on Cedric Soares and Mohamed Elneny.

Arteta made further changes, allowing Milan to get back into the game and the Italians pulled a goal back through former Chelsea defender Fikayo Timori.

The England international, who narrowly missed out on a World Cup place, headed in from a 78th minute free-kick.