Match Report: Arsenal Sneak Past Al-Nasr in Exciting Dubai Friendly

Unai Emery’s Arsenal used their international break to take a trip down to Dubai to train in the warm weather, and play against Al-Nasr in a friendly.

After a strong end to their March fixtures, Arsenal travelled to Dubai during their 2-and-a-half week break in order to maintain their fitness levels and continue their hard-work ahead of the most important few months of the season. Unai Emery’s army currently sit in 4th in the Premier League table – a position that many are surprised to see them in. The trip to Dubai was to maintain fitness levels for their first-team players that weren’t called up to their respective international sides. This included some big names, such as Mesut Ozil, Laurent Koscielny, Petr Cech, and Alexandre Lacazette (the former 3 are all retired from their nations, while Lacazette continues to be omitted). The Gunners prevailed in their friendly against Al-Nasr on Tuesday, although it certainly wasn’t as easy as many expected.

The Gunners’ starting XI was a mix of current stars and future stars, as the likes of Leno, Mustafi, Lacazette, and Ozil were joined by Amaechi, Gilmour, Sheaf, Medley, and Mavropanos. Jenkinson and Suarez rounded out a quite strong XI.

With competitive fixtures coming to a small halt for this month, Arsenal fans probably expected to be free of Shkodran Mustafi’s calamitous, cringe-worthy errors. This proved to be incorrect, as Al-Nasr’s opening goal was gifted to them by Mustafi going to ground ridiculously early, and in a comedic manner. The former German international (former because there’s truly no chance he’s ever getting called up again) continues to make a fool of himself, even against considerably lower opposition.

An unlikely source, Carl Jenkinson, leveled the scored eventually. From there on out, the match was in Arsenal’s favour, although they never really made it easy for themselves.

The sleeping genius that is Mesut Ozil came to life in this match, with his backheel assist to Alexandre Lacazette being the key moment. The Frenchman took a few touches and fired a delightful finish into the top corner.

One of the youngsters, Tyreece John-Jules, grabbed his first senior Arsenal goal later in the match to seal the victory, after some sloppy defending from Al-Nasr allowed him to score. John-Jules is among the crop of fine forwards that Arsenal’s Hale End academy has produced in recent years.

While Al-Nasr did slot a late penalty past Petr Cech, the match ended up in Arsenal’s favour. The Gunners will be back in action on the 1st of April, as Newcastle United take a trip to the Emirates. With just 8 matches remaining, Arsenal will be hoping to cling onto their 4th position in order to be back in the Champions League, where they belong.