Arsenal’s defensive woes reared their head again as Borussia Dortmund stormed to a 3-2 win at the Emirates to lift this year’s Emirates Cup.
Just days after manager Mikel Arteta publicly admitted his side’s defending in Wednesday’s defeat to Real Betis fell “below the standard,” the Gunners found themselves in similarly familiar territory – trailing 2-0 at the break courtesy of goals from Samuele Inacio and 18-year-old wonderkid Konstantinos Karetsas.
It wasn’t for want of trying at the other end. Viktor Gyokeres came agonisingly close to pulling one back before the interval, only for his effort to crash off the crossbar, as Arsenal squandered chance after chance without reward.
Ethan Nwaneri finally got the home crowd on their feet after good work from Christos Tzolis reduced the deficit, but any hopes of a full-blown comeback were snuffed out almost immediately when a defensive mix-up at a corner handed Joane Gadou a simple finish to restore Dortmund’s two-goal cushion.
Tzolis, arguably Arsenal’s brightest spark on the day, capped off an impressive display by winning a late penalty which Gyokeres duly converted, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation as Dortmund saw out the win.
With the Community Shield clash against Manchester City in Cardiff just a week away, Arteta now has plenty of fire-fighting to do before the real business begins.
There was, however, a silver lining for the Emirates faithful – new signing Bruno Guimaraes was unveiled to the crowd before kick-off, and on the evidence of Sunday’s defending, his arrival couldn’t have come at a better time.
(The Whistler)