Arsenal ended their pre-season tour of Asia with a 1-0 defeat against Tottenham in Hong Kong. The Gunners’ defeat at Kai Tak Stadium means they depart for London on Friday having won two of their three tour games.
After beating Newcastle United 3-2 last time out, Mikel Arteta made five changes to his Arsenal team to face Spurs as Jakub Kiwior, Martin Odegaard, Christian Norgaard, Declan Rice and Gabriel Martinelli came in. New signing Viktor Gyokeres was named on the bench to begin with rather than going straight into the starting XI after only two training sessions with his new teammates.
Arsenal did have a couple of chances early on through Odegaard and William Saliba but it was Tottenham who went closest to opening the scoring as Pedro Porro and Wilson Odobert both hit the post. It was Thomas Frank’s team who took the lead just prior to half-time with Pape Matar-Sarr lobbing David Raya from distance after Myles Lewis-Skelly went to ground seconds earlier.
The Gunners did threaten on occasions early in the second half, most notably through Martinelli who prodded over after good play from Myles Lewis-Skelly and Kai Havertz. Tottenham were to pass up a glorious chance to double their lead on 66 minutes as Micky van de Ven headed wide of the target from a pinpoint Mathys Tel cross.
Gyokeres was to come on for his debut in the closing stages but very little fell his way as Arsenal ended their tour with a slender defeat. Here is how we rated the players at Kai Tak Stadium:
David Raya
Looked so unsure on a couple of corners and was then beaten from distance as Sarr lobbed him with the goalkeeper way out of his goal. Very little to do in the second half. 4
Ben White
Caused a few problems by Odobert but was stronger in the second half. 6
William Saliba
Went close with a header and then cleared a Richarlison attempt off the line in the first half. 7
Jakub Kiwior
Made a crucial block on Mohammed Kudus in the first half and had his hands full at times when battling with Richarlison. 6
Myles Lewis-Skelly
Believed he was fouled for Sarr’s goal as Tottenham took full advantage with the Arsenal man on the ground. Started a good Arsenal move early in the second half that resulted in Martinelli shooting over. 6
Martin Odegaard
Started the contest very brightly and was involved in the team’s first two chances. Snatched at one attempt midway through the second half when the team were pushing on for an equaliser. 7
Christian Norgaard
Handed his second start of the tour and was solid enough at the base of midfield prior to his substitution. 6
Declan Rice
Really put himself about in midfield and saw one effort blocked by Porro in the first half. 7
Bukayo Saka
A couple of decent runs in the opening 45 minutes and won a foul that saw Rodrigo Bentancur booked. Much more involved after the restart as he looked to guide his team to an equaliser. 6
Kai Havertz
A real lack of chances on goal but did team up well with Martinelli for an opportunity early in the second half. 6
Gabriel Martinelli
Didn’t offer enough in the first half but went close with an opportunity after the break following some good play with Havertz. 5
Substitutes
Martin Zubimendi (Christian Norgaard, 68)
Almost made an instant impact with a volley that was deflected over for a corner. 6
Leandro Trossard (Gabriel Martinelli, 68)
Couldn’t repeat his performance from last time out and unfortunately didn’t impact the game. 5
Mikel Merino (Declan Rice, 77)
Swung in a decent cross from the left in his short time on the pitch. 5
Viktor Gyokeres (Kai Havertz, 77)
On for his debut but had no chances on goal as Arsenal pushed for an equaliser. 5
Cristhian Mosquera (Jakub Kiwior, 77)
Saw a header go wide after coming on. 5
Max Dowman (Bukayo Saka, 77)
Lively following his introduction and put in a lovely cross that Oleksandr Zinchenko knocked across goal. There was a real excitement whenever he got on the ball. 7
Oleksandr Zinchenko (Myles Lewis-Skelly, 77)
Knocked a decent ball across goal but nobody was there to finish it off. 5
Reiss Nelson (Leandro Trossard, 84)
On for the final few minutes. N/A
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