Arsenal struggled in the final rehearsal before playing Man City
* Score: Nketiah 43' - Fofana 30'
In the friendly match for the Emirates Cup at home on August 2, coach Mikel Arteta did not use the strongest squad because he wanted to keep the pillars for the English Super Cup match against Man City at the weekend. Two rookies Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber started, while Kai Havertz, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes and captain Martin Odegaard came on in the second half. Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko are absent due to injury, while Bukayo Saka is a substitute for the whole match.
The lack of many pillars on the attack made Arsenal deadlocked and did not create clear opportunities. When the attack has not exploded, the home defense makes a mistake. In the 31st minute, Mohamed Camara easily passed Martinelli on the right and then crossed the ball to Youssouf Fofana to head in an empty position and add to the empty net, opening the score for Monaco.
Arsenal then had to resort to dead ball phases to find mutations. In the 43rd minute, Martinelli took a corner for Takehiro Tomiyasu to head, and goalkeeper Philipp Kohn struggled to save. In the free-kick right after that, Martinelli crossed to the far post for Eddie Nketiah - who wore the captain's armband to replace Odegaard - to tie the tie 1-1.
The equalizer did not help the "Gunners" improve the game in the second half. In the 49th minute, Caio Henrique stretched out so Wissam Ben Yedder stretched out to cushion the column. A minute later, it was Russian midfielder Aleksandr Golovin's turn to squander his shot from close range into Aaron Ramsdale's position.
Arsenal only prospered when Arteta launched a series of stars like Odegaard, Trossard, Gabriel, White, Jorginho or Havertz on the field from the 62nd minute. However, they could not score the decisive goal. Draw 1-1 after 90 minutes, the two teams did not play extra time, but won and lost by penalty shootout. Here, former Liverpool striker Takumi Minamino was the only one to fail, helping Arsenal to win 5-4.
Emirates Cup is an annual pre-season friendly tournament organized by Arsenal at Emirates home since 2007. The seventh time "Gunners" won this friendly tournament, after 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017 , 2022. The remaining champions of the tournament are Hamburg in 2008, New York Red Bulls in 2011, Galatasaray in 2013, Valencia in 2014 and Lyon in 2019.
The Emirates Cup match closes Arsenal's summer training period. In the previous four friendly matches, Arteta's teachers and students drew 1-1 with Nuremberg, won the MLS All-Star 5-0, lost to Man Utd 0-2 and won against Barca 5-3. The new season will begin for Arsenal on August 6, when they compete for the English Super Cup against Man City at Wembley. A week later, on August 12, Arsenal returned to the Emirates Stadium to host Nottingham Forest in the first round of the Premier League.
