Arsenal 0-2 Juventus: Mikel Arteta endures dismal day as Granit Xhaka’s own goal and a Samuel Iling-Junior effort help Serie A giants to friendly win… and Gunners lose Reiss Nelson to injury
- Arsenal fell to a 2-0 defeat against Juventus in their final mid-season friendly
- Granit Xhaka scored an own goal in his return match after the World Cup
- Ex-Chelsea youngster Samuel Iling-Junior wrapped up the win with his late strike
- Mikel Arteta’s side face West Ham in their Premier League return on Boxing Day
Premier League leaders Arsenal fell to a 2-0 defeat in their mid-season friendly against Juventus on Saturday night.
Mikel Arteta’s side took on the Serie A giants for their third and final match before the Premier League’s restart after previous wins against French side Lyon and AC Milan.
However, things did not go to plan for the north London outfit as they suffered defeat in-front of their home crowd and lost one of their key players to injury.
Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka scored the opening goal of the game with a header into his own net
Mikel Arteta’s side will have to dust themselves off ahead of their West Ham clash next week
Martin Odegaard played the full 90 minutes but failed to create a goal for the Gunners
Ex-Chelsea winger Samuel Iling-Junior (L) scored the second for Juventus late in the match
The Gunners started the brighter of the two sides and had multiple attempts on goal in the first-half that called Juventus’ Mattia Perin into action.
Portuguese playmaker Fabio Vieira came close when he drilled an effort at goal which Perin met with a superb diving save.
Shortly after, winger Reiss Nelson was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh injury. It’s remains to be seen whether the change was precautionary or not.
England U-21 forward Eddie Nketiah thought he’d broken the deadlock after finding the back of the net but the goal was ruled out as he started in an offside position.
With just minutes remaining in the first-half, Arsenal saw all their hard work undone in an unfortunate moment for returning midfielder Granit Xhaka.
Eddie Nketiah thought he’d given Arsenal the lead in the first-half but he ruled as offside
Winger Reiss Nelson was forced off mid-way through the first-half after sustaining an injury
Xhaka, who made his first appearance for Arsenal since returning from the World Cup, saw his header fly past Aaron Ramsdale and give the visitors the lead just before the break.
Into the second-half, both sides made wholesale changes which saw the visitors have more control of proceedings.
However, Nketiah again managed to find the back of the net only for the officials to, once again, rule it out.
Nketiah poked home from a corner but the referee had blown his whistle just before after a serious clash of heads left a player from either side on the floor.
The Juventus squad celebrate after taking the lead during the encounter at the Emirates
Granit Xhaka made his first appearance for Arsenal since returning from the World Cup
Minutes from the end, Juventus doubled their tally thanks to former Chelsea youngster Samuel Iling-Junior.
The 19-year-old winger burst into the Arsenal penalty area before firing a shot at goal which, thanks to a Rob Holding deflection, left Ramsdale no chance.
It was not the ideal result for Mikel Arteta and his side who’s next fixture sees them go up against West Ham in their Premier League return on Boxing Day.
Ben White starred in Arsenal’s defence before being taken off midway through the second-half
Follow Sportsmail’s live blog for the friendly clash between Arsenal and Juventus.
