Arsenal’s Asia Tour came to a disappointing end in Hong Kong as Sp*rs won the first north London derby on foreign soil courtesy of Pape Matar Sarr’s long-range lob at the end of the first half.
It capped off a frustrating performance from Mikel Arteta’s side, who never really found their rhythm on a tricky pitch and struggled to break down Thomas Frank’s well-organised side. Despite a flurry of changes and a handful of half-chances, the Gunners couldn’t find a way back into the game.
First Half
After promising displays against AC Milan and Newcastle, the expectation was that Arsenal would take control from the off — but it didn’t pan out that way.
Sp*rs looked well-organised, confident playing out from the back, and created the better chances before eventually breaking the deadlock just before half-time.
Arsenal, by contrast, were sluggish in possession and, seemingly by design, repeatedly bypassed midfield in favour of long diagonal balls aimed at Saka and Havertz. While the tactic occasionally stretched the pitch, there was little cohesion in the next phase of play and most attacks fizzled out. The pitch didn’t help — bobbly and uneven — but it’s not enough of an excuse.
There was an early opening when Saliba failed to divert a scuffed Odegaard effort on target following a corner, but that was about as close as the Gunners came to troubling Guglielmo Vicario.
At the other end, a Pedro Porro corner evaded everyone before clipping Raya’s back post. Richarlison, first to the rebound, couldn’t generate enough power with his header to beat Saliba.
The warnings kept coming. Jakub Kiwior got himself in a mess and Wilson Odobert struck the post with a low effort that took a slight deflection off Ben White. From the resulting corner, another cross evaded Raya — who may have been fouled — and clipped the woodwork again. Richarlison tried to pounce but handled the ball.
Whenever Arsenal did try to build from the back, they were met with heavy, cynical fouls. Bentancur went into the book for one such challenge on Saka on the touchline, and as tempers frayed, Arsenal began to return the favour. With a whistle-happy referee in charge, the game quickly became bitty and stop-start.
It looked like the sides would go in level at the break, but Pape Matar Sarr had other ideas. After Myles Lewis-Skelly was dispossessed in the centre circle — a challenge that looked suspiciously like a foul — the midfielder lofted the ball over Raya, who was miles from his goal. The keeper was left stranded, and Arsenal paid the price.
There were a couple of half-chances for an equaliser after the restart, but headers from Norgaard and Havertz were both blocked.
Second half
Arteta stuck with the same XI for the second half, and while the quality still wasn’t quite there, there was at least a bit more intent about Arsenal’s play.
A sharp overlapping run from Ben White caused a bit of chaos before Odegaard saw a shot deflected over. Moments later, Myles Lewis-Skelly surged forward and teed up Havertz, who laid the ball off to Martinelli — but the Brazilian blazed over.
Thomas Frank responded with a triple substitution and it had the desired effect. Sp*rs looked livelier, and they really should have doubled their lead, only for Mickey van de Ven to somehow head wide from almost on the goal line.
With a third of the game remaining, Martinelli and Norgaard were replaced by Leandro Trossard and Martin Zubimendi. The latter nearly made an immediate impact, his first contribution a volley that looped just over via a deflection. Havertz was next to try his luck, but his low effort was comfortably gathered by Vicario.
After a scheduled water break, the changes kept coming. Mikel Merino, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Max Dowman were joined by Christian Mosquera and Viktor Gyokeres, both making their unofficial debuts.
Dowman made a quick impression. His first shot was blocked for a corner, and a few minutes later he jinked past his marker and whipped in a dangerous cross to the back post. The 15-year-old’s teammates kept feeding him the ball in hope of more magic, but Sp*rs soon cottoned on and began doubling up on him.
Mosquera had a late chance from a stoppage-time corner but couldn’t generate any power with his flick. As for Gyokeres, it was a quiet cameo. He hovered around the box looking for space, had one nice moment teeing up Zubimendi, but otherwise struggled to get into the game.
Pre-season now continues in London. The Gunners will fly back tomorrow before friendlies with Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao. Arteta will be looking for a big improvement on what he saw today.
Starting XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Kiwior (76), Lewis-Skelly (76), Norgaard (67), Rice (76), Odegaard, Saka (76), Martinelli (67), Havertz (76)
Subs: Setford, Rojas-Fedorushchenko, Nichols, Salmon, Mosquera, Zinchenko (76), Zubimendi (67), Lokonga, Copley, Merino (76), Dowman (76), Nwaneri, Kabia, Nelson (84), Trossard (67 / 84), Harriman-Annous, Gyokeres (76).
