Arsenal 0-2 Juventus: Xhaka & Holding's own goals help Old Lady secure away win

Arsenal fell to defeat in front of their own fans in their final mid-season friendly as own goals from Granit Xhaka and Rob Holding saw Juventus run out as winners.

Match Report

After comfortable victories over Lyon and AC Milan, the Gunners welcomed the Old Lady to the Emirates Stadium full of confidence, and dominated proceedings from almost the first minute.

Xhaka and Reiss Nelson were particularly impressive, with Eddie Nketiah as busy as ever in front of assured displays from Martin Odegaard and Fabio Vieira, but the quality in the final third was lacking throughout.

Nelson was forced off with a suspected hamstring injury midway through the first half and that appeared to further blunt the attack, with his replacement Marquinhos almost a passenger on the night.

If Arsenal were blunt, then Juve were worse and were gifted a goal in first-half injury time when Xhaka messed up a headed clearance which sailed over Aaron Ramsdale and into his own goal.

It didn’t get much better in the second half, though Amario Cozier-Duberry got the half-empty Emirates on their feet in an eye-catching 25-minute cameo.

As Arsenal pushed for an equaliser, Juve caught them on the break and England youth international Samuel Iling-Junior’s low drive was diverted over Ramsdale by Holding for the second injury-time own goal of the night.

Line-ups

Arsenal XI: Xhaka, Partey, Tierney, Martin Ødegaard, Holding, Nelson, Gabriel, Ramsdale, Ben White, Nketiah, Fábio Vieira

Subs: Cedric, M.Elneny, Matt Turner, Karl Hein, Matt Smith, Marquinhos, N. Butler-Oyedeji, Taylor Foran, Amario Cozier-Duberry, Reuell Walters, Lino Sousa, E. Nwaneri

Juventus XI: Perin, Rugani, Locatelli, Kean, Nicolò Fagioli, Alessandro Pio Riccio, Tommaso Barbieri, Fabio Miretti, Enzo Barrenechea, Federico Gatti, Matías Soulé

Subs: Pinsoglio, Ake, Samuel Iling Junior, Leonardo Cerri, Emanuele Zuelli, Jonas Rouhi, Samuel Mbangula Tshifunda, Dean Huijsen, M. Besaggio, Joseph Boende, J. Vinarčík