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Arsenal Football Newsletter
The visitors came into the affair winless in four pre-season outings, but fought hard for their first win of the summer, defending valiantly under heavy pressure for much of the match.
The Gunners had hoped for a confidence-lifting outing as they made their grand return to the Emirates after spending two weeks touring east Asia, but were frustrated as they fell to an unlikely two-goal deficit after half an hour by way of goals from Nicolas Pepe and Edouard Eyong.
Christian Norgaard headed home for his first Arsenal goal before half-time, but Arnaut Danjuma’s second-half strike put the result out of reach, with Martin Odegaard’s 76th-minute penalty a mere consolation.
Viktor Gyokeres showed some signs of promise as he made his first start, but will benefit from spending more time on the training ground. Noni Madueke also got his first taste of Arsenal action with a brief second-half cameo, injecting some fresh energy into the side but ultimately falling short in the push for a late equaliser.
Arsenal started the match on the front foot, going close through Bukayo Saka in the early stages, but could not convert their pressure into clear-cut chances as they gave Luiz Júnior little to worry about.
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Their wastefulness was soon punished. Former Arsenal man Nicolas Pepe, who left the Emirates under a cloud in 2023 after failing to live up to the weight of his £72million price tag, hit a poacher’s goal to open the scoring against the run of play. William Saliba failed to deal with a low cross, which bobbled across the area for the Frenchman to fire home from close range.
Despite trailing, Arsenal were unperturbed and continued to press on in search of an opener, keeping their guests very much under the cosh.
But history repeated itself. Raya was unlucky as his save from Gerard Moreno’s shot was deflected perfectly into the 21-year-old’s path, and he finished to double Villarreal’s lead.
Christian Norgaard headed home from a Gabriel Martinelli corner moments later to perpetuate Arsenal’s reliance on set-pieces and halve the deficit, but the Gunners trailed at the break.
The direction of play was not much changed in the second half, as Arsenal continued to attack in droves. As the match grew scrappy, Gyokeres forced another good save from Junior before being withdrawn, ending his full Arsenal debut goalless.
His substitution wrought the introduction of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, and Max Dowman, but even they could not force a goal.
It took just one chance for Villarreal to extend their lead. A lightning counter-attack from the Yellow Submarine set Arnaut Danjuma free and one-on-one against Kepa Arrizabalaga, who could not keep out his driven cross-goal finish.
The result was within reach again, though, just a few minutes later. Pau Navarro clumsily tripped Max Dowman to hand the Gunners a penalty, which Odegaard coolly slotted home to slash the visitors’ lead again.
With just a quarter of an hour left to play, the Gunners launched a full-scale assault on Villarreal in pursuit of an equaliser, but despite their best efforts, the Spaniards held firm.
The evening went from bad to worse for Arsenal after the match in a novelty penalty shootout, during which Madueke and Gabriel both saw efforts saved as the Gunners were beaten again.
The Gunners have one more chance to find a winning formula this summer as they face Athletic Club in a final pre-season friendly on Saturday, before travelling to Old Trafford the following week for their Premier League opener.