Arsenal’s Christos Tzolis put in a strong performance in his first appearance of the international break, scoring for Greece in a comeback win over Serbia.
Christos Tzolis has already had a busy start to the season with Arsenal, and he’s unlikely to get much time off over the international break.
After appearing in all eight of Arsenal’s fixtures in 2026/27 so far (starting six), Tzolis was named in the starting lineup for Greece away to Serbia on Thursday night.
The game couldn’t have started much worse, with Serbia taking the lead after less than four minutes, but Tzolis was a big part of Greece’s eventual comeback.
The Arsenal summer signing almost helped Greece to draw level instantly, finding himself through on the goalkeeper in the fifth minute of the game. He was forced to take the ball wide to evade the onrushing keeper, but his lay-off found Konstantinos Karetsas, who hit the post.
That was one of four chances Tzolis created during the game, but his biggest contribution ended up being a shot of his own in the 74th minute.
The winger made an intelligent run into a space on the left-hand side of the penalty area, received the ball and took a touch away from the defender before finishing confidently with his weaker left foot for 1-1. It was his first goal of the season, despite notching four assists with Arsenal.
With Greece going on to score a 94th-minute winner, they successfully turned an opening-day defeat into victory. The highlights are available here.
Tzolis and Greece will face Germany next, though it seems Sunday’s hosts will be without Kai Havertz due to injury. Greece will then wrap up the break with two more games at home against the Netherlands (and potentially Jurrien Timber) and Germany again.
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