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Arsenal logo
Pre-season Friendlies
Aug 7, 2016 at 6pm UK
 
Manchester City logo

3-2

Iwobi (50'), Walcott (73'), Akpom (86')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Aguero (30'), Iheanacho (88')

Arsenal lose Gabriel to injury in morale-boosting win over Manchester City

Arsenal beat Manchester City 3-2 in an entertaining pre-season friendly clash in Sweden, but lose Gabriel Paulista to injury late on.

Arsenal have ended their pre-season campaign on a high by beating Premier League rivals Manchester City 3-2 at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg.

The Gunners dominated the early chances but fell behind to a Sergio Aguero goal, yet they battled back well in the second half to claim a morale-boosting victory a week before the new season gets underway.

It was not all good news for Arsenal, though, as Gabriel Paulista - their most experienced defensive option available - was stretchered off the field in added time when catching his studs in the turf.

The first chance of the entertaining match fell, quite literally, to the feet of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain when Willy Caballero made a hash of his attempted clearance.

Pep Guardiola's philosophy of passing from the back would have cost City on that occasion, if not for the Englishman's wayward effort when given an empty net to aim for 40 yards out.

That was a sign of things to come in many ways, as Ramsey squandered a couple of openings on his return to the side - including a glanced header from Alexis Sanchez's cross that ended on the roof of the net.

City's only real chance prior to their breakthrough fell the way of Aguero after he drifted past makeshift centre-back pairing of Paulista and Rob Holding, but Hector Bellerin got across well to take the sting out of a shot that Petr Cech eventually collected.

Francis Coquelin was the next Gunners player guilty of being profligate in front of goal when failing to convert into a half-empty goal, with a covering City defender blocking his weak attempt on the line.

The Citizens then moved ahead on the half-hour mark thanks to a simple close-range finish from Aguero, who simply stuck out his boot to divert the ball beyond a helpless Cech following Raheem Sterling's fine cross into the box.

Arsenal struggled to find their feet in the remainder of a half that fast fizzled out, with Wenger using the interval to bring on some fresh legs for the second period.

Alex Iwobi was one of those to remain on the field, and it was the youngster who dragged his side level five minutes into the half when tucking the ball past the reach of replacement keeper Joe Hart.

Wenger's men nearly had a second soon after when Sanchez curled a free kick back off the underside of the bar, while Theo Walcott's well-struck shot required a big save from Hart.

The second did arrive in the final quarter of the match after Walcott, a man who has been at the centre of a debate over his best position of late, exchanged passes with Sanchez and delicately dinked the ball over Hart.

There was still time for two more goals late on, plus that injury blow to Gabriel, as Chuba Akpom came off the bench to punish some slack play at the back from City before Kelechi Iheanacho nodded home at the back post to drag his side back into it.

Yaya Toure almost provided one final late twist when picked out inside the box, only for his blast to be well kept out by Cech with just one minute left on the clock.

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Per Mertesacker of Arsenal celebrates at the end of the UEFA Champions League Qualifier 2nd leg match between Arsenal and Besiktas at the Emirates Stadium on August 27, 2014
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