Result: Arsenal 1-1 Atletico Madrid (1-3 on penalties)
Competition: International Champions Cup (pre-season)
Date: July 26th 2018
Venue: Singapore Sports Hub
Arsenal starting XI
Leno, Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac, Ramsey, Guendouzi, Nelson, Smith-Rowe, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
5′ – chance Aubameyang
Great work from Reiss Nelson who bursts through, to the byline, and floats a cross to the back post. Aubameyang’s shot deflects wide, and from the resulting corner Ramsey pokes wide at the near post.
11′ – optimism
New signing Matteo Guendouzi, who has looked bright, sees glory from 40 yards out but as you might expect his shot does not trouble Jan Oblak in the Atletico goal.
13′ – chance Aubameyang
Arsenal take a corner to the back post, it’s there to be hit, but the striker whacks it into the ground and wide. The Gunners are dominating territory and possession.
22′ – save Oblak
Arsenal won the ball back well, and broke forward quickly. Aubameyang played Ramsey down the left, and eventually Lacazette shoots for the near post from a tight angle, but he’s denied by the keeper.
24′ – danger
The first moment of danger at our end as Gameiro gets in behind Holding but just can’t control the pass that’s fired into him. Following that Partey hits a shot about 3 miles over the bar.
29′ – Mustafi block
Juanfran sets up Correa inside the Arsenal area but his shot is scuffed and Mustafi gets in the way to help get it clear. Shortly after Vietto fires over from the edge of the Arsenal box.
32′ – Oblak save
Once again Lacazette is denied after being set up brilliantly by Ramsey. From the left hand side the French striker smashes a goal-bound shot but Oblak stands big to make a good stop.
39′ – Oooooooh
Almost a goal for Arsenal. Lacazette’s left footed shot is palmed away by Oblak into the path of Nelson who looks certain to score but the defender gets it clear at the last minute. Bizarrely, the referee gives a goal kick.
41′ – ⚽️ Goal Atletico Madrid 0-1
Correa turns Holding too easily and drives into the box. He lashes in a cross, Vietto gets away from Guendouzi who has switched off for a second and his diving header flies beyond Leon to give the Spaniards the lead, somewhat against the run of play.
45′ – Holding heads wide
From a Smith Rowe corner the defender looks to make up for his part in the goal but heads well wide from 12 yards.
Half-time: Arsenal 0-1 Atletico Madrid
The Gunners were bright, dominated possession, but the Spanish side grew into the game and grabbed a goal late in the half to take a 1-0 lead into the break. All a bit familiar, but old habits, a bit like Bruce Willis, die hard.
Unai Emery makes just one change at the break, bringing on Petr Cech for Bernd Leno, and he wears the number 1 for the first time.
47′ – ⚽️ GOAL ARSENAL 1-1
Emile Smith Rowe picks up a loose ball in midfield, drives at the back four, and then smashes a brilliant shot into the top corner past substitute keeper Adan.
49′ – Ramsey shot
The Welshman has a pop from distance but he doesn’t catch it quite right and it trickles through tamely to the keeper.
58′ – OMG
Arsenal are all over the place at the back, Guendouzi is found wanting, Cech makes a brilliant save, it rebounds to to an Atletico player at point blank range and somehow last ditch defending by Holding sees it blocked over the bar. It’s hard to know how they didn’t score there.
Moments later, Partey has a clear sight of goal in our box, but scuffs his shot wide off Mustafi for a corner, which begets another corner, and from the next one Cech saves a header.
62′ – Changes
On: Sokratis, Mavropanos, Nketiah, Perez, Chambers, Mkhitaryan, Osei-Tutu, Maitland-Niles
Off: Holding, Mustafi, Bellerin, Ramsey, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nelson, Smith-Rowe
Sort of looks like a back three with Kolasinac and Osei-Tutu as wing-backs.
72′ – Sokratis
Arsenal give the ball away too easily, the shot on goal is tame, but the Greek defender gestures for this teammates to calm down and not rush things.
73′ – Cambios
Atletico Madrid make seven changes. Guendouzi comes off for Arsenal to be replaced by Joe Willock.
80′ – tekkers
Osei-Tutu clears with an overhead kick inside his own box!
81′ – Yellow card Chambers
The Arsenal defender is booked for a foul or possibly dissent, I think.
82′ – Chance Nketiah
The striker makes a good run behind the defence, but from a very tight angle and on the stretch, he can’t get any power on his shot and it’s easy for the keeper.
86′ – half-chance
A corner comes to Mavropanos at the back post but he’s not really expecting the ball and his control lets him down.
90′ – Added time
We’ll have 4 minutes of additional time, and if nobody scores then a penalty shoot-out.
90 + 4′ – Nobody scored
An interesting enough game, some nice moments especially the Smith-Rowe goal, but not a lot to learn beyond that. Now, the game will be decided by:
Penalty shoot-out
Correa – ❌
Mkhitaryan – ❌
Hernandez – ⚽️
Willock – ❌
Some bloke – ❌
Maitland-Niles – ⚽️ (Panenka!)
Mollejo – ⚽️
Nketiah – ❌
Adan – ⚽
Atletico Madrid win 3-1 on penalties. Arsenal’s penalties were pretty poor, but it’s not really that important. The first serious run-out of the season is under our belts, and it’s PSG on Saturday.
We need another winger/striker. A winger if Auba is going to play ST or a CF if Auba is going to play LW. Wish we still had Giroud with us.
Aubameyang’s only being moved out to the left because we’re trying to force him and Lacazette into the same team. Another striker is frankly one of the last things we need in this squad right now.
Play 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 then. It makes no sense playing one of Europe’s most lethal finishers out wide to accomodate.
He did very well on the left. I think he has more space to run with the ball with Lacazette doing the dirty work of getting his ass marked by defenders.
A winger would do the trick. Also, IMO, Auba shouldn’t be made to play on the wings. We should keep him where he is the most lethal, inside the box.
Another striker? Aubamayeng and Lacazette are both better than Giroud. We have Eddie and maybe Perez in the wings
Eddie, Perez and Iwobi are not going to get us the PL.
Welbeck is the only real backup. We should have kept one of Walcott, Giroud.
🙁 No Lucas Perez please. Glad to have Welbeck in the squad once he is ready. Lucas is neither a winger or an accomplished striker and Welbeck has a larger upside to his game both offensively and on the defensive.
Agree with DQ; watched the match and I think for a backup, Welbeck is 10,000 miles ahead of Perez.
Completely irrelevant but santi is playing again. So happy for him! https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/26/santi-cazorla-arsenal-villarreal-injury
Love that guy!
We have Nelson on the wings too, I feel like we should give him a real chance this season, he is already technical better than walcott. Just needs to start finishing.
in min 58 Guendouzi is shoved in the back with two hands and goes down as he was slighlty off balance. Its a clear foul… No idea what ramsay was doing walking around the 6 yard box tho
He is a box to box midfielder. Otherwise he’d be a er, to box just
Argh, I can never quite get used to seeing us lose, even if in a pre-season friendly. But it felt good to see the lads back in action. Smith and Nelson seem really enticing, have a feeling that they are going to offer something special this season. Defensive frailties are still prominent but I guess Emery will figure it out over the next few games. Guendouzi might prove to be a key player, just needs to keep his head straight. A lacklustre attacking display despite massive possession in the first half but I’m positive that they’ll pickup as the pre-season… Read more »
Wonderful goal by ESR! but blimey those penalties were awful!
Cech saved more penalties today than the whole of last season I think. ? Sounds like a good run-out and Guendouzi could be a cracking signing from what I’ve heard of the game. Keep it up lads.
Maybe,, but probably would of won the shoot out with one of the other keepers in goal
Did we just miss three out of four penners? ?
Yes but they were penos not penners.
Who says penner?
Hi-brid wording, I think.
Smith-Rowe looking a great prospect at a young age, lovely dribble and finish. Atletico were missing a lot of their top players and it was definitely a pre-season feel to the match.
Lots of youngsters taking the penalties, good experience if they can learn from it.
ERS with some fantastic footwork and a goal to cap.
Actually it should be ESR!
Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate!
A full blooded lad if you catch my drift.
Wenger out!
I like Parks & Recreation, but I can’t stand Jean Ralphio.
I like Arseblog News, but I can’t stand…
Loved that Panenka pen almost as much as I love this new match report format.
For me, Guendouzi plays a very similar game to Elneny.
At the hairdresser, yes.
I dunno. To me he seemed more like an Arteta type. Good passing range, dictated the tempo, and barely misplaced a pass. Always available for the ball. Compared to Ramsey, less running all over the place, less intent to get forward, more picking up the ball from the center defenders and distributing to others around him than trying to get on the end of something.
Oh crap, spent that entire post thinking you had said Ramsey haha. Fair enough then, I agree with that sentiment more. He seems to have a little bit more swagger/spring in his step compared to Elneny, but maybe that’s just the new player goggles talking ?
Spring in his step,, thats true,, also wanting a HUGE pay rise by the looks of things
Guendouzi is a cross between Elneny and Wilshere. He tackles more than Wilshere, but he has the surging turn and run through the midfield that could set up more chances than Elneny does.
Very similar players on the ball. However, it feels like there’s more to the young french lad than with Elneny.
The only big positive with Elneny is the movement into space that comes with the passing.
“Guendouzi plays a very similar game to Elneny.”
Ssssssh, quiet you. If Santori hears that, that’s Guendouzi done for.
Rumour has it on a full moon, if you chant “elneny” 3 times into a mirror, Santori appears behind you and hits you with a 50-page thesis on why he hates Elneny.
Just once is enough. Guendouzi has the nice chap element like Elneny where we need more aggression. Hope Torreira does not get knocked. I don’t see Elneny as any better than Guendouzi. They are OK players. You still feel deep midfield lacks depth in capability. That said, both Elneny and Guendouzi could improve. But will it be enough this season? Again Torreira is probably one of the better signings this summer (The others have been OK to why bother) BUT we still have yet to settle him into the squad as well. Elneny as I have always mentioned, OK off… Read more »
Shambles I say…SHAMBLES!!! ?
On a more serious note,how many Ballon d’Or is Smith-Rowe winning by 2025? my bet is at least 5.
He might be the first player ever to win the Ballon d’Or twice in the same year.
He’s the best player ever to play football.
Greater than TGSEL, Lord Bendtner?
That was rough. After watching WC soccer, yikes. Smith-Rowe, Maitland-Niles had two best plays of the game, a goal and a beauty of a feed to Nketiah. Guendouzi played pretty well except for the oversight on Atleti’s goal. Overall, I ‘d say the future’s bright. Mustafi played pretty well I thought. Kola was OK. Rambo had some nice touches. Auba does not belong on the wings. Never been impressed with Lacazette at lone CF. They either belong right up front together or something else needs to happen. Pretty Wengerian game unfortunately, lots of possession, little result. Midfield play better, though.… Read more »
I know it’s friendly and all, but seeing Mustafi did his habit of quickly turning around and blaming other guys (for the first goal) just riled me up a bit.
Shit ain’t we sold him yet
So strange seeing not-Wenger on the sidelines!
Not-Wenger?????…seriously though, i admit, it kinda felt strange to me too. My eyes kept straying to the touchlines maybe subconsciously looking for him there.
Not that Emery was any more able to beat Simeone.
FULL-TIME: ARSENAL 1-1 ATLETICO MADRID (AMN WINS THE PENALTIES)
A largely youth Atletico team with some reserve players it has to be said sprinkled in.
Like the new layout/style. Keep it going
A winger
Any winger
Chicken wing…er
Angel wing…er
The team is too unbalanced without a WING…ER!!!
What’s Nelson? A fullback?
Too true.
No comment on the match, but love the post game review format here. Goal clips! Keep up the great work!!
ESR looks like a certain Jack Wilshere!
Not to be negative.. I certainly didn’t see any change in the playing style.. and importantly the apparent style of Emery.. the high press.. I understand it is not easy to change the style of play in a jiff.. but..
Still a lot of Wenger in the team, hopefully it will eventually go under Emery
I would like them to keep some of the Wenger.
Yup, definitely.. the best of Wenger! The attacking flair
Did you think some 3 weeks of preseason (some of whom have only been there a week) would somehow change 22 years of ingrained cultural behaviours?
This is why I keep telling people to calm down on the next season “we’re gonna win the league” stuff. Took Pep Klopp and Poch at least a season before their ideas started to come through, but us Arsenal fans never listen and just like to get carried away.
I agree, we are definitely going to win the league.
There hasn’t been change in playing style.
Not yet anyway. Largely the same formation bc that’s what Emery has at disposal.
Also there has not been any better practise in market purchases.
Sure we did some business early but some of those players are easy to get early anyway.
We are severely lacking in top end quality at the moment.
Many positives on the first meaningful game. Still a few bad habits from the Wenger era like trying to dribble inside our box rather than just clear it to the stands, or Holding showing why he cost 3m. Hopefully Emery will fix things like that…
– Good work out for the lads, but too early to form any kind of opinion on the readiness of the squad, plus too many substitutions anyway for any kind of attacking potency. – I know its early days but we need to sort out our ‘new style’ passing from the back fairly quickly…else we get roasted in the EPL – just as i was sulking and mourning potentially losing the Jeff, thank heavens, i found my self another favourite…Smith-Rowe!…that boy is going to be something special. I think he is ready too. Top talents usually are at that age.… Read more »
Ah, confirmation Guendouzi is true Arsenal, watching his mark waltz in untroubled and put it into the net! Joking aside, his passing and possession play looked the part.
The new kid’s nickname is Matty G, right? I mean, look at his hair. Give the dude a saxophone and let the soft jazz flow.
Arsenal podcast – I forget which – referred to him as “Kenny Guendouzi”
Not bad, not great.
We tried to play out of the back against the press so often and in such comically risky situations I wondered whether Emry instructed the team to play out from the back at almost any cost as a training exercise. Not sarcasm honest question as to whether that might have been the concept in order to test defenders and mids for on the ball aptitude.
Which is similar to Wenger.
What we are fundamentally lacking is someone to quick release to on the flanks who can take it up on his own and complement the likes of Auba.
Also in midfield (Torreirra aside), still haven’t got the player who can drive through the middle. Maybe AMN if we let him feature a bit more.
Firstly its pre-season. Having said that I don’t think we can say we did that well against a largely reserve and Atletico youth side. Granted we were also playing some youngsters but toward last 20-25 minutes, we were largely arrayed against a very very young side. Where we were once feature in CL and Atletico struggled to compete, how times have changed. We hardly measure up to them anymore. That said, its work in progress. As expected Emery did not employ anything too new. We largely set up in similar fashion to where Wenger left off in a 4-2-3-1 with… Read more »
As for players – 1) Leno – Largely OK. Germany number one spot is up for grabs so hopefully he seizes on the opportunity this season but up against him on the other end Oblak who made 3 decent saves against Lacazette. 2) Holding – Poor mistake which led to the goal otherwise tidy. Big season ahead for him and you get the feeling Chambers, Holding, Mavropanos are all auditioning for a bigger role or we still have to find solution from market down the line. 3) Mustafi – Two very pivotal stops from the German. He led the team… Read more »
Welbeck is out because, like most human beings, he needs, and is entitled to, a holiday.
Transition play still slow. Good to face Atletico even if it was largely their youth team with a couple of reserve players sprinkled in. Defensively they are axiom. BUT we sorely lack a natural wide player to fully take advantage of the abilities of BOTH Granit and Torreira (in many ways the improved Elneny and Guendouzi as well) in providing accurate long balls from deep to quick release our attack. We need someone who is BOTH quick but also able to beat a player or two on his own accord down the flanks. With that, we will better compliment Bellerin… Read more »