Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs were handed starting berths as Arsenal took on Juventus on Day One of the Emirates Cup. Earlier in the day, Real Madrid amassed five points after beating Hamburg 2-1 thanks to goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy and QPR-bound Daniel Parejo. In addition to the standard three points for a win, each goal in the Emirates Cup also earns you a point, so German side Hamburg still got something for their efforts despite losing.
Onto the Arsenal game and Kieran Gibbs started at left-back in Armand Traore’s absence whilst Jack Wilshere occupied the left-midfield slot.
————————–21.Fabianski——————————
—31.J.Hoyte—–20.Djourou—————–6.Senderos(c)—40.Gibbs——
—27.Eboue——16.Ramsey—————–15.Denilson—-55.Wilshere—
—————-26.Bendtner—————–12.Vela——————-
subs: 2.Diaby (for Ramsey, 45), 10.Gallas (for Senderos, 45), 25.Adebayor (for Vela, 45), 14.Walcott (for Eboue,59), 3.Sagna (for J.Hoyte, 59), 8.Nasri (for Wilshere, 60). Not used: 1.Almunia, 22.Clichy, 41.G.Hoyte, 42.Lansbury, 47.Randall.
The two non first-teamers looked impressive early on, combining well down the left flank. Wilshere stood his own in some physical challenges and forced a save out of Buffon on 13 minutes after latching onto Eboue’s cross.
Jack was getting some rough treatment from one or two Juventus players, with ex-Liverpool man Sissoko the main culprit.
Gibbs was also impressing making some good passes and embarking on some forward runs but he knew when to track back as well.
Eight minutes before the break disaster struck for Arsenal when David Trezeguet slotted home from Iaquinta’s free-kick, although it was clear that the Frenchman was offside. Moments earlier, Trezeguet had the ball in the net but it was not given. This time, however, it was and Arsenal went into the break a goal down.
Wenger opted to bring on some more experienced players for the second half with Adebayor coming on for Vela and Gallas, thankfully, relieving Senderos of his captaincy duties.
The second half wasn’t the best game of football to watch as Arsenal struggled to break down the defence-minded Italian side.
Wilshere delivered a decent ball for Bendtner who came close to grabbing the equaliser.
But on the hour mark the Luton born youngster was withdrawn and replaced by summer signing Samir Nasri. Wilshere looked disappointed to have come off but he could be happy with his performance.
Kieran Gibbs played the entire game but was showing signs of tiredness towards the end and a lapse in concentration meant that he was out of position for one Juventus attack. He made several attempts to call for the ball but his team-mates often opted for another option.
Arsenal failed to score and in the end suffered only their second defeat at Emirates Stadium. Tomorrow, the Gunners face Real Madrid and although it seems unlikely that the trophy will be remaining at Emirates this season, a decent performance against the Spanish Champions would surely stand Wenger’s side in good stead for the new season.
In other news, on-loan Kerrea Gilbert completed 90 minutes as Leicester completed their pre-season preparations with a 1-1 away draw against Crystal Palace this afternoon. Kerrea was one of the Foxes star performers and whipped in several teasing crosses from right-back.
Meanwhile, four Arsenal youngsters were in action as England under-17s suffered a 6-1 thrashing by Denmark in the Nordic Tournament 3rd Place play-off, meaning the Three Lions will have to be content with fourth place this time around. Jacob Walcott scored England’s only goal on 19 minutes but Denmark took control of the game thereafter. Oliver Nicholas completed the whole game, whilst Jason Banton also started before being replaced by Conor Wickham on 65 minutes. Chuks Aneke and Luke Freeman both entered the field on 53 minutes replacing Jesse Lingard and Joe McCann respectively. Next up for the Three Lions is a friendly tournament to be staged at various venues in Anglia, where John Peacock’s side will take on Portugal, Israel and Italy in the competition which kicks off on August 27th.
