Arsenal starting XI: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Mustafi, Monreal, Xhaka, Willock, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Aubameyang, Lacazette
Arseblog reporting live from LA
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An own goal and a late strike from Eddie Nketiah gave Arsenal a 2-1 win over Bayern Munich at Dignity Health Sports Park in LA this evening.
We got a first glimpse of the new away kit, and jolly nice it was too. The kind of kit you could win a league in … if you also bought some new players to put in it.
A surging run from Aubameyang and a clever flick from Ozil created the first chance of the for the striker, but his shot with the outside of his foot flew wide.
Lacazette was next to find room for a strike, it was blocked into the path of Mkhitaryan who dragged an effort wide of the far post with his left foot.
A poor Mustafi pass to Willock put Arsenal under pressure, Sokratis and Leno almost conspiring to score an own goal before getting it clear. Xhaka fired over from distance in the 15th minute, and in midfield Joe Willock found his passing range and won a good tackle which almost created a goalscoring opportunity for Ozil.
The young midfielder was the stand out player in the opening half an hour, but the Gunners did work some nice moves down the left hand side in particular, with Aubameyang skinning Alaba at one point only to see his low cross cleared.
Bayern had the best chance of the game in the 32nd minute, a cross from the left found the striker just yards out but Leno saved with his feet. Shortly afterwards a cross shot from the right hand side was also pushed away by the German stopper who was doing his best to keep the Arsenal sheet clean.
Another incredible run from Aubameyang saw him drive from the edge of the Arsenal box to the edge of Bayern’s, he laid it outside to Ozil but the German took a touch and his subsequent shot was saved by Neuer. It was a move which deserved a goal.
Half-time came with the scores level, and as you’d expect there were changes at the break. Emi Martinez came on for Bernd Leno while Sead Kolasinac replaced Nacho Monreal at left back.
Bayern had the first attempt of the second period, a shot from outside the box which Marteinz saved well but minutes later Arsenal were ahead. Mkhitaryan played a ball to the back post, Poznanski missed it, Aubameyang crossed it first time and the defender got back to his feet just in time to deflect a first time cross into his own net. 1-0.
Former Arsenal man Serge Gnabry came on at the break and immediately caused us problems. Running directly at Kolasinac he fired a shot wide, then a smart run in behind saw him one on one with Martinez but the keeper stuck out a hand to prevent a goal as the German looked to go around him.
Coman caused Maitland-Niles problems down the Bayern left, at the other end Ozil fed Mkhitaryan whose cross was deflected up in the air, and the Germans were really putting the pressure on as some of the Arsenal players began to tire.
There were good chances for Arsenal though. Aubameyang missed a sitter after a Kolasinac cross, and another brilliant run saw him create for Nelson but the youngsters touch was heavy and his shot saved.
It proved really costly though as Bayern equalised in the 70th minute. The defence was slow to close down Gnabry, his cross went over the head of Mustafi but found the head of Lewandowski who dispatched it perfectly into the top corner. 1-1.
Arsenal brought on Saka, John-Jules, Chambers and Nketiah for Mustafi, Ozil, Lacazette and Aubameyang – who had torn it up down the right hand side all night. For a man who picked up a knock in training yesterday, he showed no signs of it.
And the subs paid off as two of them combined to put us ahead in the 88th minute. John-Jules took a lovely touch in the box, played a one-two, crossed it and Nketiah readjusted his feet very quickly to score from close range. 2-1.
That was enough to win the game, and Arsenal’s pre-season proper got off to a good start.
I’m telling you… Saka is going to be the real deal. Only 17 still, right? We have a real prospect in our hands.
But, overall a solid performance against a very strong lineup. We held our own and even dominated for a good portion of the match. Very pleased with our overall team performance.
I always thought saka is the best of his kind
He reminds me a bit of Sterling, the way he runs at defender at such high speed with close control.
Ivan was correct. We are now competing with Bayern Munich. Heh
What a great match that was!
COYG!
The young lads were brilliant so was Auba. Mustafi still a weak link though. Onwards and upwards.
It seemed like he wanted to be a good 4-5 feet in front of Lewandowski for some reason, when only seconds before, he was right next to him.
How good were the last 10 min? I wish TJJ landed that last shot, was one hell of a build up play
Noticed Calum Chambers’ involvement in that move, and also the pre-assist for the winner. He looked pretty sharp
His stint at CDM for Fulham has helped his composure and decision making on the ball. I keep tooting his horn but his technical level is the best out of current defenders.
“A poor Mustafi pass to Willock put Arsenal under pressure”.
Business as usual.
is what he wants to highlight. Not the only one making poor passes.
And forgot to read other line with Sokratis/Leno conspiring to score an own goal.
Wake up santori that was directly from Mustafi’s loose pass!
Dude, give it a rest on Mustafi. It’s not heroic to be his sole apologist. Most Arsenal fans know he has qualities but ultimately he let’s the team down all the time with daft mistakes. 99.9999% of Arsenal fans see this, Emery is trying to flog him, they can’t all be wrong. Bottom line – none of our defence is great but he is the one who lets us down the most and everyone is sick of it.
Pre-season has begun, 3 weeks to the start of the premier league. The player is our starting centre back right now and can do with some support. Once they are on the pitch, please support every Arsenal player despite the flaws. The constant bashing for over 8-9 months must hv left some mental scars which would definitely affect his game and he is a player who has to start on the pitch for the club (whether you like it or not). That relentless tirade of Mustafi jokes and writing off the player entirely (rather than mildly pointing out that the… Read more »
You are right. I am sorry about it.
People willing to change opinion when confronted with structured arguments. Stuff you come to Arseblog for. Thanks to both for helping to spread this culture.
Nope. Fuck him
The issue is he has a complete lack of composure. This was a pre-season friendly and he looked right on edge. The best center backs calm everyone down, unfortunately he does the opposite.
His problem is that he is headless, I hate Gary “bollocks” Neville but he said he’s good if he’s playing alongside an organiser. Problem is that we don’t have one.
He just needs to stop doing random shit!
Bless him
Stewart’s Pearce said about mustafi- he is a man , aMAN you know you have had a physical game and hard match if you play against him. When slit of Arsenal centre back over recent years have been a bit weak .., ( bfg, kos, Johan d, squalchi, etc…)
Stuart Pearce also said Bergkamp was a waste of money when we signed him.
if Stuart pearce was a tool he wouldn’t even make it into the shed.
Not saying stw knows all about strikers , but reckon as a know hard man , defender who played along side butcher, Keane, Adams . Pearce is a defender he can spot another one. He never said he is that mustafi never makes any errors . But that he is physical strong and hard. Surely this is good to hear
Mustafi did play a lot in 22 game unbeaten run last season
We have one: Rob Holding will be that guy. He seems to be ahead of schedule and may be ready for the start of the season. Remember last season, when our defence was fairly solid up until December, when both Holding and Bellerin got injured. That kind of broke our back …
Wait until Musatfi done a Mustafi again that caused us a champion league position, will you say this again?
nonsense….its not too much to expect that arsenals most exspensive defender can actually defend rather than fall over, claim offside,claim a foul or unecessarily dive in. we dont drive his price down…..his performances do that all by themselves. utd fans berate pogba yet hes still worth £70-80 million if not more …..”midly pointing out that the player is not arsenal level”….get real.
Aside from his blunders, I simply don’t like how he hangs on for the ball too long. His decision making takes too long when looking for a pass, which gives opposition time to press us. Not so good if we want to play out of defense, obviously.
If the same could be said about Özil… even if it’s financial rentable for some media and blogs.
I really want to agree with you, I’m always trying to support the team and the players no matter what. Mustafi is not the worst defender we had in recent years, he can even be pretty good on his day. But I just can’t stand his behaviour on the pitch anymore. Please look at Lewandowski’s goal again. Sure, ok, Mustafi is not marking him, he lets the guy go past him as he often does, but I guess it can happen to any player. What really bothers me is that, after the goal, he is the only player waving his… Read more »
I doubt Mustafi reads “Arseblog” so won’t have “mental scars”.
How about Muttface spends the off-season learning how to defend and how to not wave his arms about like a moron every time we concede? I despise him and it will be another season of regret if we don’t get rid of him/replace him.
Lacazette looks like he’s been eating lots of cake over the summer.
So happy to see this year’s kit. The blue/yellow HAS to be our 2nd away kit and then the sales people can do whatever they want with the 3rd kit…
That is a one sexy ass kit. Thought we played really well and Nketiah brought some fire to that team. Defensively we still looked slow and useless. At one point we tried our usual suicidal passing out of the back when there were about 6 Bayern players swarming us. Sad to see no defensive improvements from last year
Fancied myself caught up on the youth talent but who was that kid Burton? Played Kolasinac in twice with smart passes over the Bayern midfield. Yes, just a friendly but a little exciting!
I haven’t seen the Bayern game but he (Burton) had a really good game against Colorado. He is not flashy or what people would call exciting, he is just a midfielder who keeps is simple, exactly what you’d want from a midfielder. I’ll watch the Bayern game later and will watch him with interest. He is turning out to be my favorite.
Hilarious comment given the derision aimed at El Neny and previously Denilson, and to some extent Arteta.
‘Keeping it simple’ isn’t the same as ‘doing absolutely nothing of note or worth in an offensive sense’. (Aimed more at Denilson than Elneny, but somewhat applicable to the latter too)
Do you know a site to watch catch up games?
Burton distributed well along with some build up play. Isn’t afraid of recovering possession either. It was a joy watching these young lads showcase their talents
Mustafi still being mustafious in defence, Ozil still oscillating lazily in midfield and Auba and Laca still doing the business in front… Same old Same old Arsenal
At least you can identify him from a mile away. There I was thinking we’d signed someone!
And fans can see his runs and efforts…
Re: Ozil, you saw a two second clip of him and decided to make up a whole exposition on him…And you call him lazy? What about your comment? Incisive journalism?
Actually Özil had a good game, looked commited and was involved in a lot of what was good in the first half. Just a shame his finishing was a bit off.
I think he is gald Ramsey has left, personally, and I say that with no knowledge of them on a relationship level, this is purely a football reason. It just seems that way from his play.
It wasn’t 5-1. Im chuffed.
Am I the only one who felt like we were Dortmund when watching the highlights?
Happy for the win but still concerned about a few things, mainly; 1. That starting 11 feels like Emery’s “first choice” which is basically just the same team as last season. 2. I was really hoping for a formation change. Not a 3-man defence, but something more like a 4-3-3. Just wanted to see something different formation wise. We know what we will get from that starting 11 and what we will get out of that formation too. But once again, it’s the youth that excites. More excited about watching them in cup games and Europa than the league games… Read more »
I’d assume it is his first choice because a) we haven’t signed any senior players and b now is the time to see what youth can jump into that 11. Swot you do in preseason right?
That’s the concern. I wasn’t implying it was Emery’s fault. What can he do?
Saying that, I did like Emery’s feedback on AMN and Kolasinac.
Said last season he played a back-3 to allow them to be more offensive, but this preseason he’s focusing on their defensive ability in a 4, which is a clear indication we won’t be seeing much of the 3-man defence anymore (hopefully).
Was a very good game to watch. There was a synergy in the team, the blocks were moving together and we seemed to attack with purpose and defended well especially before the break. Ozil and Miki worker tirelessly too, closing down and putting tackles. Auba was a real outlet all day and his sitter (surprise surprise) aside, top marks. Was really impressed with Willock. He’s shown he can kick it with the big boys. Seemed assured in possession. Also Burton was very very impressive. played like a pro and made excellent decisions, but his name is not Saka so he… Read more »
It was kinda cool to see the young guns balling out at the end to pull out the win, just to take the shine away from Serge Gnabry’s great performance.
We lost a good one in Gnabry, but our academy is still producing gems
Mustafi’s awful pass to Willock!!!! ……smh…….am sure if he was a student,he’ll never move classes…..c*nt!!!!
Wow. One of our own players. We’re not Tottenham, lets not be dicks.
Some great work by Chambers on our second, watch it closely
A blonde Ozil… Never thought I’d live to see the day.
Well, we’ve already seen a bland Ozil…
Hahah, great one Traveen!
He now plays AND looks like a p*ssy.
What a stupid thing to say Dom47.
I’d LOVE to see you play football against him or go to the gym with him to see who is the “pussiest”! Lol
Just the 1 minute highlight on sky was enough Mustafi for me. Can’t bare the thought of watching him for another season
Is it just me? But burton really reminds me Cesc.
Woop Woop
Build around these talented youngsters that care. They look real quality. However, patience will be required from supporters. We all know it, the priority must be to buy centre back(s) and probably a left back (Kolasinac not good enough defensively and Monreal getting old).
Well done! Now let’s try and repeat that when we come up against the might of Wolves, Brighton and Crystal Palace.
I took my grandsons to the match. It was our first time to see Arsenal in person and we were not disappointed. We live in earthquake riddled Ridgecrest and my oldest grandson is on crutches after having ACL surgery two weeks ago. This was a perfect way to get away from all of the anxiety of going through the big quake last week. I expected to watch the youngsters go out and lose to Bayern, but we were pleasantly surprised to cheer our Gunners on to victory. I was sad to see that our defense is picking up where we… Read more »
Glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome. Nice to see this and remember why put ourselves through it all every season. All the best to you and your grandson and UP THE ARSENAL!!!!
Have a strategy. Adopt the Ajax model – build young home grown team (supplemented by a few quality imports only) then (unlike Ajax) retain your homegrown stars.
And how has that worked out for them over the past few years? One domestic title and no Champions League wins. And now that they have won the title, the big boy vultures are stripping their talent.
All of that “success”, with much lower level of competition most weekends. We’ve seen what middling Premier League players do to young players. You have to have a mix.
Easy…
Arsenal need to do few signings in some areas.central defender,left back and right back,creative midfielder and winger.then I think our problem is solved.
Without being negative, I would be tempted to offer Mustafi as a free transfer, I hear he was at fault again for their goal
Holy sweet mother of bejeezus, a defender who was in some way responsible for the opposing offensive player scoring? By god we need to simply tar feather and castrate any man involved in such a heinous act!
We won Bayern and the lot talks about Mustafi and one pass he made.
Pls dont give me any preseason BS – this was a proper match between 2 very good teams. Yet it is everyone about Mustafi and many on Özil. Sick and tired of the abuse against our own players from FIFA playing sunday soccer specialists.
Can’t read much of anything into pre-season games. But it was telling how much ENERGY the guys had last night. Loved it.
Those new kits are fucking dynamite! Love them to bits, more than the home ones in fact.
Now to get a few deadwood players out of those kits ASAP.
Another good result, and it’s encouraging that Emery says he’ll stick with some of the youngsters. Those of us who are old enough remember excellent pre-seasons under Wenger when we also had several youngsters playing well etc. and people were excited about their prospects. What happened? In most cases, they were loaned out – often to several different clubs over a period – and in the end they were let go or sold for nominal amounts. I don’t think that will happen again under this management, but let’s not get too carried away quite yet.
Amazing game and it was a pleasure to be there and see all these guys that I cheer for every week up close!
The best thing was that almost 80 percent of the fans in there were gooners and every time the Germans tried to sing we out sang them haha and outnumbered them .
Great experience.
It might be a divisive comment, but I thought Özil looked interested in playing, making runs and being in the right place and a few trademark flicks and passes . . . . . . other than that I I thought we looked reasonable but the kids really impressed when they came on. Also, can we just get Tierney or AN Other in at left-back and give Hector some magic ‘ Get Well Sooner ‘ potion or tablets or something because I think those positions might just kill us until we are more solid there, and that is said with… Read more »
Win lose or draw we will all have a better season if Ozil starts to enjoy footie again.