Arsenal’s Emirates homecoming was spoilt on Wednesday night as a Villarreal side boasting a couple of former Gunners ran out 3-2 winners in north London.
Nicolas Pepe and Denis Suarez, who made just six appearances for the club during a 2019 loan spell, were involved in a couple of the goals for the LaLiga side.
The former bagged the 16th-minute opener before Karl Etta Eyong doubled Villarreal’s advantage just after the half hour. New Gunners signing Christian Norgaard halved the deficit before the break.
Suarez then provided the pinpoint pass that allowed former Tottenham forward Arnaut Danjuma to restore the Spanish side’s two-goal advantage. Mikel Arteta had by this point made a raft of changes and the revamped roster rewarded his faith by notching the side’s second of the match.
Arsenal’s frustrating afternoon was confounded during the penalty shoot-out that followed the match. Villarreal were again victorious after Mikel Merino, Gabriel and Noni Madueke missed from the spot.
Our reporter ISAAN KHAN watched on as Arteta’s men stumbled on their north London return.
Mikel Arteta will be left frustrated by the result in his side’s first pre-season fixture after returning from their tour of Asia
The Gunners were beaten 3-2 by the Spanish outfit but had promising moments in attack
Former winger Nicolas Pepe opened the scoring with a finish from close range after 16 minutes
GYOKERES STARVED OF SERVICE
Thousands of Arsenal fans descended upon the Emirates wearing Viktor Gyokeres’ No14 shirt.
They had long been crying out for a striker. So when the north London club finally obliged last month, spending £64million on the Swedish attacker, their optimism resulted in Gyokeres’ shirt becoming one of the fastest shirt sales for a new signing in Gunners history.
Yet on the pitch, it was the same as usual around these parts — an Arsenal frontman being starved of service and feeding off scraps.
It’s a scene that has been re-enacted time and again last season, and one which will need to be fast rectified if this club are to properly utilise their shiny new striker.
Gyokeres showed glimpses of hold up play, including an early flick on, as well as his presence in closing down space when off the ball.
But after receiving flack for his 13-minute run out against Tottenham on the Gunners’ pre-season tour of Asia, he will have been keen to show what he can do in front of goal.
Instead he had to make do with an unrewarding shift in darting around, though not being picked out by team-mates.
They did occasionally go aerially to him to limited avail. And Mikel Merino played him through on the hour mark, Gyokeres’ shot saved by Luiz Junior.
Overall, though, he will be hoping the likes of Martin Odegaard, who started on the bench, will have a much better radar in finding him.
Viktor Gyokeres found it difficult to impress himself upon the match and was starved of service
WONDERKID DOWMAN SHINES AGAIN
A slew of substitutions were being readied on 62 minutes. Yet the loudest cheer was reserved for the introduction of 15-year-old Max Dowman, who the stadium announcer prefaced with: ‘making his Emirates debut for the first team’.
He, and those in attendance, knew this will be the first of many times Dowman will feature at the Emirates in the coming months.
The Arsenal attacking midfield wonderkid, who dazzled on their pre-season tour of Asia, was given another chance to shine — and he did.
On 69 minutes he shimmed past a couple of players, shooting wide, before winning a penalty after being pulled to the ground by Pau Navarro who had been wrong-footed by his trickiness.
He carried on in the same vein, being picked out by team-mates to frighten the opposition backline with his watertight dribbling abilities and fearlessness to attack the box.
The teenager played in a number of crosses which had to be desperately snuffed out. This kid is special.
Fifteen-year-old Max Dowman impressed once again and won a penalty in the second half
DEFENCE IN PIECES
Villarreal’s opening two goals saw David Raya pull off good saves, only for an opposition player to steer the rebounds home after pushing past Jakub Kiwior on the back post.
The defender could’ve done better in these instances. More broadly, the backline sorely missed Gabriel.
The Brazilian underwent a hamstring operation in April but came on in the second half as he pushes to be fit for Arsenal’s opening Premier League match against Manchester United next Sunday.
Cristhian Mosquera came on at half-time for Ben White and looked good at right back. He showcased composure on the ball and pace in covering the backline well.
The glaring miss, though, was Gabriel partnering his sidekick William Saliba from the beginning.
It’s a fearsome duo who form the bedrock of Mikel Arteta’s defence. When one is missing, a lack of synchronisation is felt.
That could be seen in those first-half back post tussles and when the opposition attack broke on counter-attacks. Gabriel will need some time to get back to full match fitness — and Arteta will be keenly assessing.
Both of Villarreal’s first-half goals saw attackers from the Spanish side react quickest after David Raya saves
Karl Etta Eyong tapped in from close range to double the visitor’s advantage just after the half hour
TOO SAKA CENTRIC
That sheer imbalance between the two Arsenal flanks continues.
Bukayo Saka’s talents make the activity on the right wing inevitably lopsided. Most teams would do the same to utilise such a sheer talent.
The problem, though, lies with the drop off in quality on the other side where the Gunners are unable to exploit the extra space.
Gabriel Martinelli, as ever, looked energetic on the ball but, as ever, failed to make real inroads with a final ball.
It points to why Arsenal signed Noni Madueke, who had a short cameo late on, and are still eyeing other attacking signings like Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze.
In fact, in the couple chances Madueke had on the ball he arguably showed more directness. There is a good player in Martinelli, but he needs to up the ante – and fast, or risk losing his place.
Bukayo Saka’s talents make the activity on the right wing inevitably lopsided. Most teams would do the same
Nicolas Pepe showed signs as to why the Gunners signed him in the first place, giving Myles Lewis-Skelly a tough test
RETURN OF PEPE
Dismal, dire or underwhelming would all describe Nicolas Pepe’s time at Arsenal.
The £72million signing had such a torrid time in north London that he eventually left on a free transfer to Turkish side Trabzonspor in September 2023 after four years on Arsenal’s books.
On Wednesday he showed signs as to why the Gunners signed him in the first place, giving Myles Lewis-Skelly a tough test on the right flank.
The 30-year-old scored Villarreal’s opener, striking a post with a curling effort before collecting a rebound to score past Raya.
On a few occasions, he twisted and turned in sprints at Lewis-Skelly, who was occasionally caught on the back foot but battled back.
Pepe didn’t celebrate his goal, raising his hands in the air. Though on the night Arsenal unveiled their star summer signing in Gyokeres to the Emirates, it was their former flame who came back to haunt them.
