Our first pre-season friendly of the season ended in a 1-0 win against AC Milan on Wednesday. Here’s four things we noticed at the Singapore National Stadium…
New player watch
All three of the summer signings that are part of the travelling squad made their non-competitive debuts in the match. Noni Madueke is on his break, having played in the Club World Cup, but Christian Norgaard, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Martin Zubimendi are all out in Singapore and taking a full part in training.
Norgaard was the only one to start, and he set up our best chance of the first-half with a lateral pass to Ethan Nwaneri on the edge of the box. But it was his interceptions and positional play that caught the eye in an impressive opening 45 minutes.
He was replaced by Zubimendi at the break, and the Spaniard showed glimpses of what we can expect from him with a neat and tidy display, linking the play smoothly from defence to attack. He confidently dispatched his penalty in the shootout as well, stepping up for the second spot kick.
As for Arrizabalaga, it was a very quiet night for his debut. Our dominance was such that he only had one save to make in regulation time, although the penalty shootout gave him a chance to shine…
Kepa’s hat-trick
There can’t be many penalty shootouts where the keeper who makes three saves ends up on the losing side. That’s what’s happened to Kepa though. He kept out the second penalty from Colombo, the fourth from Liberali and the fifth from Okafur. Three saves out of the opening five penalties, the last one ensuring it went to sudden-death. But Milan eventually got the better of us, winning 6-5 after nine kicks each.
The ‘Tridentity Cup’ had already been decided on the 90 minutes though, the shootout was only intended as a friendly competition, unless the match ended as a draw. Our scorers were Zubimendi, Mikel Merino, Leandro Trosssard and youngsters Josh Nichols and Max Dowman…
Teenage kicks
As well as the new signings, we had two academy players making their unofficial debuts in Dowman and Marli Salmon. The two are both just 15 years old, though Salmon is a full-time scholar this season, whereas Dowman is still a schoolboy as he is in the lower year group.
The two came on midway through the second-half, and Dowman in particular wasted no time in getting involved in the action. Playing on the right wing replacing fellow Hale Ender Bukayo Saka, he had one darting run soon after coming on, before swapping passes with Martin Odegaard and shooting just wide inside the area on his dangerous left foot.
He then went on another run, drawing a foul just outside the box. This was all within five minutes of entering the pitch.
He looked very much at home in this company, perhaps not surprising as he has been training regularly with the first team for much of the past year. He also confidently dispatched his spot kick in the shootout.
Salmon replaced William Saliba as the right-sided centre back, and again belied his tender age with a composed performance. One raking long pass from inside the centre circle to the left wing especially caught the eye.
The match ended with three academy players in the back four, with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Josh Nichols at full back.
This is Nichols second time touring with the first team, and he looks to have developed physically since last year, and linked up well on the right with Dowman.
Ethan Nwaneri is a relative veteran by comparison to the new wave of Young Guns, but his input shouldn’t be overlooked.
He was excellent in a central role in the first-half, and came close to scoring a stunning goal on 23 minutes. He took a touch to beat his man, then swiveled and shot in an instant, only to be denied by a good low save by Terracciano.
Outgunning Milan – on and off the pitch
Our passionate Singapore supporters had waited seven years to see the team in action, and seemed determined to enjoy every minute. From the moment Louis Dunford’s The Angel accompanied the team onto the pitch, our supporters made themselves heard.
The biggest cheers when the starting XI was read out were reserved for Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, and they were then treated to a comprehensive Gunners victory, which could have been by a bigger margin.
We had 23 shots (nine on target) compared to AC Milan’s three (just one of which was on target). We also had much more of the possession (56% to 44%) and won 14 corners. We are back here in the Singapore National Stadium on Sunday to face Newcastle United, before heading to Hong Kong.
There are plenty of Arsenal supporters in Singapore, and we seem to have made a second home of the National Stadium. We played here twice in 2015 (beating a Singapore Select XI and Everton) and twice more in 2018 (beating Paris Saint-Germain and drawing with Atletico Madrid).
We’re sure to be well supported again this weekend as we look to extend that record.
