Izuchukwu OkosiArsenal successfully defended their annual Emirates Cup with a 5-4 penalty-shootout Wednesday evening to beat Ligue 1 side AS Monaco following a 1-1 draw at the Emirates stadium in London.
Youssouf Fofana put the French side ahead with a thumping header from a deep cross inside the penalty area and were constantly looking to add a second for the good.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe Gunners were without forward Gabriel Jesus, whom manager Mikel Arteta later revealed had copped an injury and needed a surgery.
Like he did when Jesus was Eddie Nketiah led the line and was even the captain of the team for the duration of the first half as Martin Odegaard started from the bench.
Nketiah restored parity for the Gunners and the game eventually ended at full time requiring a penalty shootout to decide the winners.
Aaron Ramsdale saved one of Monaco’s spot kicks while the Gunners scored all of theirs in the game which was in honour of legendary manager cum FIFA bigwig, Arsene Wenger who was coach of both Arsenal and AS Monaco.
An experimental Arsenal XI saw Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber handed their unofficial home debuts, while Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira were also given opportunities to impress from the off.
Arsenal had won two of their pre season friendlies prior to the game on Wednesday with a defeat against Manchester United the only blot on their pre season preparations.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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