Ramsdale a well timed hero as Arsenal maintain nerve in Emirates Cup shootout
Aaron Ramsdale ended up being the hero for the Gunners on Wednesday night time, saving an effort from former Liverpool winger Takumi Minamino to make sure that Mikel Arteta’s facet triumphed 5-4 on spot-kicks after a tense 1-1 draw over 90 minutes.
It was a well timed enhance for the England goalkeeper because it got here as Arsenal pursue a critical rival to his standing as undisputed first-choice between the posts in north London by making an attempt to signal David Raya from Brentford.
Minamino was the one participant to not rating within the shootout, with centre-back Gabriel firing dwelling the profitable penalty after Kai Havertz, Jorginho, Fabio Vieira and Martin Odegaard had all scored for Arsenal, with Kevin Volland, Krepin Diatta, Youssouf Fofana and Caio Henrique on course for Monaco.
The penalty shootout would have taken place anyway no matter the results of the match itself, however with no further time scheduled, ended up settling proceedings after a energetic encounter through which Fofana’s headed opener for the guests simply previous the 30-minute mark was cancelled out on the stroke of half-time by a cushioned close-range volley from a nook by Eddie Nketiah, main the road for Arsenal within the absence of injured fellow strikers Gabriel Jesus and Folarin Balogun and surprisingly handed the captain’s armband by Arteta on the night time.
Arsenal confirmed ahead of kick-off that Jesus had suffered a knee injury and would should be assessed, with no phrase but as to the severity or a possible timeframe for his return. Nevertheless, it’s a worrying replace for a participant who missed three months of motion final season after surgical procedure on a knee challenge suffered whereas on responsibility with Brazil on the World Cup in Qatar.
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