Arsenal and AC Milan faced each other in a pre-season friendly on 23rd July at the Singapore National Stadium. The match ended in a 1-0 win after regular time. However, as it was a friendly, a tiebreaker was played even after the 90 minutes. In that tiebreaker, AC Milan fans surprisingly found their new hero. This match didn’t carry any big expectations with it, but both clubs have surely found some of their answers to the questions.
Arsenal-AC Milan Friendly: Player’s Performance
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal arrived in Singapore with his 30-men squad. But before the pre-season, Arsenal had already started their ‘preparation’ for their new season. The team arrived with their full squad strength. The new names were also given their chances to make their first appearances. Arsenal fielded a quite strong team against AC Milan. Martin Odegaard captained the side, with Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka providing the winner for his club against the Rossoneri. Mikel Arteta also gave chances to some young academy talents of the club. Among those talents, Max Dowman shined brighter than any other player. Other than Dowman, Marli Salmon went off the bench and played some quality minutes against AC Milan. Among the big arrivals, Christian Norgaard started the match. Martin Zubimendi and Kepa Arrizabalaga came off the bench, later on. Although this kind of match can’t really do proper justice to the qualities these players possess, Arsenal fans can start hoping for a fruitful season.
On the other hand, AC Milan kicked off the match with Portuguese international Rafael Leao, leading the upfront. Milan fans were in huge tension over whether he would continue with AC Milan or not. Despite rumours about interest from clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Rafael Leao is still an AC Milan guy. But the only footballer who stole the spotlight from everyone was the AC Milan goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani. The 19-year-old boy put up a stellar performance in the penalty shootout to win it for his team.
Arteta is Happy with Arsenal’s Performance
Ben White continued to deliver in the same way as he did against Watford. Arsenal are a serious title contender this season. These friendly matches should be enough for Mikel Arteta to have a grip on his squad. Arsenal will play against Newcastle United next. That match is going to be a tougher challenge than this. “We had a lot of changes, we’ve seen the players are playing at a very high level.”– said Arteta to the press. This Arsenal team is already packed with some brilliant individuals. So, Arsenal didn’t face any big obstacles in this match. The team looked quite fluid and confident. Fans believe that this chemistry will only get better and better in the upcoming matches. Meanwhile, Arteta grabbed the opportunity to get to know two of Arsenal’s academy graduates. Arteta has informed the club officials that the team is good to go. Arsenal didn’t have any special lessons to learn after this match against AC Milan. But Arteta has addressed that he will be reviewing each and every player before their next friendly. Some players are still unfit to play a whole match. The physio has a job on hand. Overall, Arteta has remained humble. Room for improvements are always there and the Arsenal manager is on a mission to finally bring in a trophy with this team.
Author’s Opinion: What’s Next for These Two Clubs?
Arsenal will focus now on the match against Newcastle United. If everything goes according to the plan, Arsenal will finally unveil their prime target, Viktor Gyokeres, in front of the fans. On the other hand, AC Milan will fly to Hong Kong. They will face Liverpool as their next opponent.
Stay tuned for more sports updates.
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