Mikel Arteta was left with plenty to ponder after Arsenal slumped to a 3-1 defeat against Real Betis in Dublin, undone by a series of sloppy mistakes that allowed the Spaniards to race into a commanding first-half lead before comfortably seeing the game out.
Viktor Gyokeres had the first real chance of the evening but was unable to break the deadlock. Instead, it was Betis, captained by former Gunner Hector Bellerin, who struck first. Rodrigo Riquelme reacted quickest at the back post after Kepa failed to deal with a corner, before Nelson Deossa was afforded far too much space on the edge of the box to rifle home an excellent second.
Piero Hincapie briefly gave Arsenal hope when he nodded home a close-range header from a Christos Tzolis corner, but any momentum was short-lived. Kai Havertz’s loose pass was seized upon by Pablo Fornals, who left Kepa wrongfooted to restore Betis’ two-goal advantage before half-time.
Arteta introduced Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes at the break as Arsenal searched for a response, but there was little sign of a comeback before the pair were subbed back off again. The evening was made worse by what appeared to be a serious knee injury for academy youngster Louie Copley, who was forced off after an awkward fall in an incident that will have caused far more concern than the result itself.
Here’s what the boss had to say to Premier Sports at full-time.
On the performance and result…
You’re always upset when you lose a football match. Two very different halves, especially with the personnel that we used today. But in the first half there are two different things, to play well and to compete well. And we did the first one quite well in a lot of moments, but the compete part, especially in and around our box, is not to the standards to win a football match against a good side.
On why his side struggled to compete in the first half…
I don’t know. We have to dominate the first action in the corner. We concede that really sloppy goal. Then two giveaways very close to our box as well. And they were very efficient; there are two very good goals as well from their side. So it’s always good when you lose a match in pre-season because it creates a bit more fire in the belly.
On giving away sloppy goals…
Better to give them [away] in a friendly match than in an official match, but, yeah, it’s a balance between, ok, understanding where we are [physically], the personnel that we are playing and I think the demands that they have to be always at the highest level.
On whether preparation for the season feels different with the aim to retain the title…
Even more excited. And we’re going to go and attack every possible title because that’s the ambition that we have. We know that we have the ability. We’ll go from a strength to a strength, whether it’s with the players that we have to take them to a different level or with the market that is still open to recruitment as well. So, yeah, very optimistic about it.
On Arsenal’s strength and wanting to retain the title…
All the work that we’ve done, that I’ve done through the summer, is to understand what we need to do to win again and to create a dynasty in this football club. That’s the aim.
On an imminent deal for Bruno Guimaraes…
I cannot talk about any news. You guys sometimes are faster than me. I’ve been involved in the match, so I don’t know what’s happening. I cannot talk about any player that is not an Arsenal player.
On Louie Copley’s injury…
Yes, we’re quite worried for the kid because the mechanism doesn’t look very positive, the symptoms that he already has. So we’re going to have to wait and see for tomorrow’s scan. And yeah, touch wood that he’s not that bad.