By the time Giorgos Masouras ran on in Thessaloniki, Mikel Arteta’s shortlist of fit attackers had got shorter again. Christos Tzolis went down clutching the back of his leg after lengthy pitch treatment, tried to argue his way out of coming off, and was taken off anyway.

Greece head coach Ivan Jovanović told reporters afterwards that the call was medical.

“I’m his coach, I tell him to come out and he says, ‘I’m not coming out’,” Jovanović said.

The coach confirmed it was a muscular issue and said he hoped it was “just a twitch, something temporary”. Tzolis will return to Arsenal for assessment and is expected to miss Greece’s next Nations League match against Germany.

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Tzolis refused to come off

Tzolis joined Arsenal from Belgian champions Club Brugge in July for £34m. He had made four assists in eight appearances across all competitions this season and had started every Premier League fixture before this break.

Minutes before pulling up at the Toumba Stadium he had seen a goal ruled out for offside. He went to ground on an attacking run, needed treatment, and defended one more corner before Jovanović finally sent Masouras on for him.

Havertz already home with the same complaint

The injury makes two attackers home early from this break with the same complaint. Kai Havertz returned from Germany duty with a hamstring issue and is doubtful for the Premier League meeting with Leeds United on 10 October.

Declan Rice and Ben White pulled out of the England squad before it assembled. Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié were nursing knocks of their own. William Saliba is sidelined until November with a back complaint.

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Martin Ødegaard was the one positive, playing the full 90 minutes for Norway after a recent ankle scare.

Greece threw a two-goal lead away

Greece were cruising when Tzolis went off. Fotis Ioannidis put them in front and Masouras, his replacement, headed the second before half-time to make it 2-0.

Virgil van Dijk pulled one back after the interval and Tijjani Reijnders levelled in the 89th minute to earn Xavi Hernández’s side a point.

Arsenal face Leeds at the Emirates at 12:30pm local time on Saturday 10 October.

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