Alexandre Lacazette suffers ankle injury in Arsenal friendly defeat by Lyon
They were beaten in their own cup final but the more significant events were happening off the pitch for Arsenal as the Premier League kick-off looms ever closer for Unai Emery’s men.
Alexandre Lacazette will be Emery’s primary concern after the striker left the stadium in a protective boot following their defeat by Lyon in the Emirates Cup after sustaining what is hoped to be a minor ankle sprain.
Then there is the welfare of Mesut Özil and Sead Kolasinac who were deemed not ready to play in this match after being involved in a carjacking incident last week.
Finally, there is the potential record signing of the winger Nicolas Pépé, with a £70m deal rumoured to be nearing completion. After that, the fact of a Moussa Dembélé double cancelling out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opener seemed by the by.
“We are thinking the Lacazette injury is not serious,” Emery said. “He decided with the doctor and with me not to take a risk. It is better in preseason to do that. It’s in his ankle, it’s a sprain. He will be assessed over the next few days but it is not serious.”
On Özil and Kolasinac, Emery said: “It was a decision made between the players and us that it’s not a good moment to play because their mind is not 100 % here. It’s a very personal circumstance and the most important thing is that they now feel good, feel safe and feel calm with their family. After a couple of days they can come and start properly with the squad again.”
As for Pépé, the 24-year-old is expected to have a medical this week before his move. It has been widely reported a £72m fee has been agreed with Lille but Emery refused to add any information when asked about the transfer.
“We are thinking about how we can improve the club,” he said. “Pépé is a very good player and we are only thinking about players that can improve this squad and give us different conditions.”
The game itself was a familiar story – Arsenal dominated the first half and were undone by lapses of concentration in the second. One upside was the performance of the young Gunners. Reiss Nelson replaced the injured Lacazette after 15 minutes and he joined another 19-year-old, Joe Willock, in the attack. Both acquitted themselves well, good on the ball and in finding space, albeit lacking a clinical touch in their finishing.
Profligacy is a familiar complaint for Arsenal fans but they do not have to worry about Aubameyang. Last season’s Golden Boot winner opened the scoring with a typically wellexecuted strike. Henrikh Mkhitaryan found him at the front post with a chipped cross from the right. The Gabon international met the ball with what looked like an ungainly finish that took all the pace off the ball but put it precisely where he wanted, just inside the far post.
The hosts began the second half as they left the first with the 20year-old Eddie Nketiah joining the fray and spurning a glorious headed opportunity from six yards out. Dani Ceballos made his first appearance in a red and white shirt since joining on loan from Real Madrid. A second goal did not come and soon they were pegged back.
Dembélé entered the game as a half-time substitute, forcing the former Manchester United player Memphis Depay out to the left. The Dutchman had struggled in a central role but he set up the equaliser by standing up Ainsley Maitland-Niles and spinning a cross to the penalty spot. Dembélé was waiting, a yard clear of his marker Calum Chambers, and he steered his head across goal and beyond the reach of Bernd Leno.
The winning goal came eight minutes later as Dembélé ran on to a perfect through ball from Houssem Aouar to finish coolly past the German again.
Earlier in the day Arsenal Women lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in their Emirates Cup debut. The WSL champions were largely outclassed by their German counterparts and a fearsome diving header from the captain, Melanie Leupolz, was a fitting way to decide the game.
Starting without several of their World Cup stars, including Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema, Arsenal foundered against a well-drilled Bayern backline and the visitors had chances to extend their lead in the second half.
The striker Jovana Damnjanovic failed to score when one on one with Manuela Zinsberger while Giulia Gwinn saw her backheeled flick run just past the post after a swish passing move.