Arsenal v Fiorentina: International Champions Cup – live!

Chants of “Ed-die! Ed-die!” ring through the lower bowl after Nketiah bags his second of the day with an elementary right-footed finish after some wonderful interplay up the right flank involving five different Arsenal players. What a day for the youngster: a pair of goals for his team and denying Fiorentina another with his clearance off the line in the 36th minute.

61 min: The pace has dipped a bit at the hour mark as we pause for a mandatory water break. Emery takes the opportunity to make a few more changes with Mkhitaryan, Willock and Sokratis coming on for Saka, Olayinka and Chambers.

57 min: Lacazette’s free kick has pace but doesn’t get down over the wall and soars out for a goal kick.

56 min: Terracciano comes off his line to punch a ball away but he’s well outside the box and whistled for a handball. Very weird. He’s shown yellow and Arsenal have a free kick from a dangerous position.

52 min: Lacazette finds room at the top of the area and sends a thunderbolt on goal but the keeper blocks it straight to the foot of Nelson, who is offside. Arsenal appear to have reverted to a 4-3-2-1 formation.

49 min: Vlahovic has a crack on goal after catching Chambers out of postion but Leno is there to make the save.

47 mins: A couple of changes for Arsenal with Leno coming on for Martinez and Lacazette for Kolasinac and the Gunners moving to a back four.

Fiorentina have had their chances, but Eddie Nketiah’s goal is the difference as the Gunners lead 1-0 at the break on a sweltering Saturday in Charlotte.

45 min+2: Moments from the half-time whistle Fiorentina dice the Arsenal back four once again with a deft flick from Saponara to Vlahovic, whose cheeky left-footed shot beats the keeper but rolls inches wide of the goal.

45 min: Another defensive miscue by the Gunners, this time a botched offside trap, leads to a golden chance for Sottil who goes clean through on a long ball on the right, but Martinez is able to make the save. The fourth official signals for three additional minutes.

41 min: The pace of this one has dragged to a near standstill and who can blame the players with this heat? Saponara is shown yellow for late tackle where he showed no real intention of going for the ball.

36 min: Another iffy moment for the Arsenal defense as Ceccherini’s header on goal is blocked by Nketiah on the back line.

31 min: Jenkinson takes a crack from the right side of the area and it’s deflected out for a corner for Arsenal, who have come to life over the past five minutes and testing the Fiorentina defense along the flanks. Another water break as the sun goes down over the roofline of the stadium (if not the 91F temperature yet).

27 min: Jenkinson is well positioned to make it two for Arsenal but a last-gasp tackle by Ranieri busts up the clear opportunity. That leads to a quick Fiorentina counter and a shot by Benassi that goes just wide past a fully extended Martinez wide of the far post. Big cheers from the crowd as Aubameyang and Ozil warm up along the touch line.

25 min: Brilliant work by the young Nketiah to beat Venuti down the left side with the ball, but with no one trailing in support he’s left to take on the keeper on his own from a narrow angle and his shot is easily corralled.

21 min: Fiorentina send two men toward the far post as the ball is crossed in and Vlahovic’s nearly converts but it goes out for another corner. Eyebrow-raising defending has been an undercurrent for the Gunners today but they’ve not been made to pay for it yet.

18 min: Another careless giveaway by Arsenal after the restart as Monreal is intercepted and Fiorentina counter quickly, but it’s disrupted by Chambers.

Saka surges down the left flack before finding Kolasinac, who cuts back to Nketiah at the penalty spot and the 20-year-old cracks it into past a defender and the keeper into the back of the net. A wonderful right-footed finish by the promising youngster and Arsenal lead as the team’s take their mandated water break.

15 min: More poor defending by the Gunners as Vlahovic takes advantage of a miscue and forces a good save by Martinez. Sottil nearly deposits the rebound but it’s cleared out for a corner.

11 min: Now a chance for Fiorentina as the Saponara cuts into the area unmarked to meet a cross from the right flank, but he’s unable to put the header on target.

8 min: Arsenal have their first serious chance of the day when Kolasinac’s shot from just outside the area deflects off a Fiorentina player and just wide of the left-hand post. The Gunners are able to work another shot off the corner but it’s quickly cleared by the Italian side.

6 min: More good possession from Arsenal as they probe and look to crack Fiorentina’s well-organized 5-4-1.

3 min: A steady spell of possession for Arsenal from the kickoff, but a bad giveaway at the back leads to an opportunity for Vlahovic, whose shot inside the area is blocked by a defender. Lots of red shirts everywhere in the building: a strong Arsenal crowd. And Megan Rapinoe is here.

1 min: And they’re off! Arsenal are attacking from right to left in their yellow kits, Fiorentina from left to right in their all-white strips.

Did we mention it’s hot? We can expect a slow pace to today’s game due to the soaring temperatures. We’re also told there will be water breaks every 15 minutes. The 91F temperature with 49% humidity feels closer to 98F (37C).

Hello and welcome to Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium for today’s friendly between Arsenal and Fiorentina. It’s a scorching Saturday with a temperature of 91F (33C) about a half hour before kickoff as the Gunners look to make it three wins from three in their pre-season tour of the United States. Unai Emery’s side have recorded victories over the Colorado Rapids and Bayern Munich already, with tonight’s match leading into a clash with Real Madrid on Tuesday night in the nation’s capital.

Here’s a look at the teams for today’s match.

Arsenal

Martinez, Monreal, Mustafi, Chambers, Kolasinac, Burton, Olayinka, Jenkinson, Saka, Nketiah, Nelson

Fiorentina

Dragowski, Venuti, Ceccherini, Ranieri, Terzic, Castrovilli, Cristoforo, Benassi, Sottil, Saponara, Vlahovic