Arsenal go down on penalties to Atletico Madrid in International Champions Cup clash

Sport360 staff 18:45 26/07/2018
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  • The Gunners were beaten 3-1 in the penalty shootout.

    Arsenal lost on penalties to a youthful Atletico Madrid side in their International Champions Cup clash in Singapore on Thursday.

    In Unai Emery‘s second pre-season game in charge, 17-year-old Emile Smith Rowe shone and it was his goal which cancelled out Luciano Vietto’s opener as the game ended 1-1.

    Arsenal were sloppy from the spot, scoring just one of their four penalties as Atleti debutant Antonio Adan saved three strikes before coolly converting the winner as the Europa League holders took the shootout 3-1.

    Mesut Ozil, who has been in the headlines since announcing his international retirement from Germany, was not involved.

    Emery was able to name a strong side even with Ozil, Mohamed Elneny and Alex Iwobi sitting out as they step-up their individual preparations following their World Cup exploits.

    Youngster Emile Smith Rowe had scored Arsenal's equaliser.

    Youngster Emile Smith Rowe had scored Arsenal’s equaliser.

    New signings Bernd Leno and Matteo Guendouzi started at the Singapore National Stadium while the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were all named in the line-up.

    Atletico have a younger-looking squad in Singapore but were ahead when Vietto headed home.

    That lead did not last long and, with goalkeeper Jan Oblak replaced at the interval, Smith Rowe levelled with a superbly-taken solo effort.

    Emery made a plethora of changes after the hour mark and the flow of the game never really recovered.

    The match went to a shootout where substitutes Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Joe Willock both saw their penalties saved by Oblak’s replacement Adan.

    Atletico missed two of their first three spot-kicks as Ainsley Maitland-Niles drew the Gunners level with a Paneka-style penalty before Adan made another save from a tame Eddie Nketiah strike and then smashed home the decisive penalty to settle the contest.

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