7:12PM “It was important to make a statement today and I think we did that. I am in the best shape I have been in, we’re in a good position and ready for the Premier League.”
7:01PM Raya saves Adama Boiro’s spotkick…
Allowing Zubimendi to win the shotout for the hosts.
7:00PM Lekue buries his penalty down the middle…
Saliba scores…
6:59PM Sannadi misses the target…
Saka scores…
So this pointless penalty shootout will now go to a pointless sudden-death – hurrah!
6:57PM Serrano with another good penalty…
Nwaneri misses, his attempt clipping the crossbar…
6:55PM Vesga beats Raya with ease…
Madueke scores straight down the middle…
6:54PM Navarro scores for Bilbao, hit it right into the top left-handside…
Havertz does the same for Arsenal, sending the keeper the wrong way…
6:53PM Guruzeta scores for the visitors…
Merino does the same for the hosts…
6:48PM That was easy for Arsenal who were never under pressure. They’ve got some miles into their legs, found the back of the net three times and head into the Premier League season on the back of a win.
6:47PM Great chance to make it four as Saka is one-on-one with Simon, my initial reaction was that he was offside, he has a chance to chip the keeper but is seemingly in two minds before he loses control of the ball and the chance disappears into the ether.
6:41PM Arsenal 3 Bilbao 0
Havertz gets onto the end of a Saka flick and runs in from the halfway line before slotting home inside the box. Not sure where the German found that turn of pace from, lovely finish, though.
6:39PM Rice loses the ball in the Bilbao half after an Arsenal corner, the visitors break and Rice atones for his error by sprinting the length of the pitch and winning back possession. That the sort of things fans love to see (the winning the ball back, not the losing of it in the first place…).
6:36PM BREAKING NEWS: There’s been a chance at the Emirates to awaken the game from the lethargy that had enveloped it. After some intricate play, featuring Saka on the right, the ball comes to Havertz whose shot is saved by the chest of Simon.
6:34PM It’s walking football at the moment, it looks as though both sets of teams want the game to finish. This is now the dictionary definition of a ‘pre-season friendly’.
6:31PM Bilbao have seen much more of the ball this half but Raya still is yet to make a save.
6:28PM Another change from the hosts, Gyokeres is replaced by Havertz.
The new boy played well, good movement and finish for goal and another good header against the post in the second half. He’ll now rest his legs for the Premier League opener against Man Utd next weekend.
6:25PM There is more than a hint of a lack of sharpness with Arsenal. It’s to be expected, however, it is, after all, a pre-season friendly…
Bar that Gyokeres header there have been no chances since the break.
6:21PM More changes for the hosts: Timber, Gabriel make way for Lewis-Skelly, Mosquera.
6:20PM Nearly a second for Gyokeres and what a goal it would have been. The ball comes in from the left from Madueke and a diving striker meets the ball at the near post with a diving header that hits the upright.
6:18PM ‘Stand up if you hate Tottenham’ is ringing around the Emirates and it’s the most interesting thing I can write about this match at the moment.
6:17PM More neat passing from the North Londoners but there’s more than a sense of the foot having been taken off the gas and Arsenal are already thinking about next week’s Premier League opener against Man Utd.
6:13PM White delivers a curling cross into the six-yard box that evades everyone, not many chances this halfbut the half chances are going the way of the hosts.
6:11PM Good work from Madueke on the left before getting the byline and winning a corner. From the set-piece the ball goes deep, Gabriel headers back across goal where Timber gets underneath it from all of a yard from goal sending the ball skywards rather than goalbound.
6:09PM Lots of nice passing but nothing even approaching the dictionary definition of a ‘chance’.
6:06PM Slow start to the half in north London, but as I typed that Gyokeres picks up the ball on the left before passing to no one in particular in the box.
6:03PM Changes for Arsenal Madueke and White are on for Martinelli and Calafiori.
5:47PM It’s been an easy 45 for Arsenal who are deservedly two goals up against a Bilbao side that has offered nothing.
5:45PM It’s all Arsenal – it has been since the start of the match – and after yet more good work from Gabriel and Martinelli on the left they earn a corner. Can they add a third before the break?
Not from this set-piece they cannot, they go short before the visitors clear any hit of danger.
5:41PM How to open your account at home.
5:39PM Arsenal 2 Bilbao 0
It’s simple and effective as Odegaard plays the ball over the top before Martinelli lays it off to Saka who, thanks to the on-rushing Simon trying to challenge Martinelli, has an open goal to slot the ball into.
5:36PM Arsenal 1 Bilbao 0
Lovely timed run and header to beat Simon from Gyokeres! And the crowd cheer their new hero. It was a lovely whipped-in cross from Zubimendi and, after some lovely movement, the new man gave the Spanish international keeper no chance.
5:33PM More neat play from Arsenal, this time down the left, featuring Calafiori, and Gyokeres before the defenders shot sails over the bar.
Think there is where I am supposed the type ‘think a goal is on its way’, there’s no threat from the visitors and the hosts are looking increasingly dangerous.
5:30PM Free-kick for the hosts, it’s on the left in the final third and is whipped in earning a corner. From this set-piece nothing happens as Rice’s delivery is way too long and sails over the bar for a goal-kick.
5:27PM Saka has the beating of Lekue all day so it’s not hard to see why the hosts are trying to get the ball to the left flank every chance they get.
5:23PM Gyokeres has a decent chance after great combination play on the right, the ball is cut back to the new boy in the centre of the box and the striker’s shot is a semi-misshit and it’s an easy save for Simon. That was a good chance and the new signing should have done better.
5:20PM It’s been a very Arsenal performance so far, lots of lovely passing, switching of play but without any real end product: Simon is yet to make more than one save.
5:18PM Great chance for Bilbao after the hosts give the ball away via Calafiori’s boot (he tried to pass inside the box) – Galarreta looks this gift horse in the mouth by virtue of not really testing Raya in the Arsenal goal, the keeper making a fairly regulation save.
5:15PM Good build-up again from Arsenal with Saka at the heart of it. He cuts inside before laying it off, the comes back to the right and Odegaard plays in Timber who cannot keep it in play. The right-back gets up gingerly and is limping, he’s playing on, though, but one to keep tabs on.
5:13PM The hosts are well on top, Saka again lively earns a corner. Can they create something from this?
The long and short of it is ‘nope’ as Simon comes to claim the ball with ease.
5:12PM Another good chance for the hosts as Martinelli picks up the ball in the inside-left channel who pings his ears back before going on the outside and having a shot from distance which doesn’t trouble Simon in the Bilbao goal.
5:10PM First sight of Gyokeres, Martinelli feeds the ball to the new boy who gets one-on-one with the defender before he loses control of the ball and it trundles off for a goal-kick.
5:08PM Lovely stuff from Saka as he finds himself in the box on the right. He looks go inside before darting on the right going past Lekue with ease before having a shot that is well saved. He’s looked lively so far.
5:06PM Great move by the hosts sees the ball moved at pace on the right before Odegaard plays a lovely ball to the near post for Saka who crosses into the six-yard box box first time. The Spanish defence does well to clear the danger.
5:04PM A collectors item: a yellow card in a friendly after 65 seconds…I think it was Yuri who hauled down Gyokeres. Referee setting his stall early on.
5:02PM They’re under way in north London, Arsenal in their famous red and white kit and Bilbao are in black.
This looks like a strong Arsenal XI, possibly the ideal starting side to face Man Utd?
4:55PM As is the legend that is Gunnersaurus, so we’re moments away from kick-off.
4:53PM BILBAO STARTING XI TO FACE ARSENAL: Unai Simón, Jesús Areso, Yuri, Dani Vivian, Íñigo Lekue, Íñigo Ruíz de Galarreta, I. Williams (c), Mikel Jauregizar, Unai Gómez, Nico Williams, Alex Berenguer,
Subs: Á. Padilla, Andoni Gorosabel, Mikel Vesga, Gorka Guruzeta, M. Sannadi, Robert Navarro, Alejandro Rego, Adama Boiro, Nico Serrano, Urko Izeta
4:53PM ARSENAL STARTING XI TO FACE BILBAO: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Gyokeres
Subs: Kepa, Rojas, Mosquera, White, Kiwor, Norgaard, Zinchenko, Madueke, Nwaneri, Merino, Nelson, Lokinga, Havertz, Lewis-Skelly
4:29PM Manchester United beat Fiorentina on penalties earlier today. A trophy was also up for grabs – YEAH! – Snapdragon, the club’s sponsors had provided one.
Here’s what our very own Sam Wallace made of it…
“This did not feel immediately like a new era even if that is where more than £200 million of summer spending takes Ruben Amorim and his players over the next nine months. Of the new players who featured it was Mbeumo who looked the most effective with his whipped left-footed crosses. Rasmus Hojlund was left on the bench again and Mason Mount preferred to the Danish striker in what looked like a false nine role.”
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4:18PM There are are several subsects of people who I am not a fan of. One of them is ‘people who go watch tennis at Wimbledon and find a pigeon landing on the net the most hilarious thing they’ve ever seen’. Another is ‘people who take pre-season friendlies way too seriously’. You know the type, those unable to distinguish between a game that matters and one that doesn’t, a fan who thinks every misplaced pass in July is a harbinger of doom regarding title prospects in April and May.
Today, however, I’ll give them a pass as it’s only a week until The Greatest League In The World EVER (aka the Premier League) gets under way and, perhaps, it would be no bad thing to read into the odd thing that takes place during the upcoming 90 minutes.
Also, there is silverware to play for – HURRAH! It’s the Emirates Cup, so not one to exactly get the juices flowing, but if you don’t like your cricket (how can you not after the England-India series?!) it may have somehow acted as some sporting beacon on the horizon, keeping you going until the season proper starts…
Anyway, Arsenal host Athletic Bilbao on the back of a 3-2 defeat to Villarreal and a 1-0 defeat to arch-rivals Tottenham (bet that wasn’t a result to please the subsect of people I am not a fan of…). So a decent result against the Basque team wouldn’t go amiss with their season opener against Manchester United just eight days away.
Pre-season friendlies (or tests as Mikel Arteta calls them) are mostly about getting miles in the legs and building up fitness ahead of the long, arduous season. But a win here or there wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Stay here for all the team news and action, with kick-off set for 5pm.
