Arsenal very nearly had a disappointing pre-season tour of Scotland, but they managed to get a draw against Rangers. Speaking after the match, manager Mikel Arteta reflected on the performance.
One of the notable aspects of the game was the performance of captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He missed three easy chances and that does not bode well going into the new campaign as a lot is expected from the forward.
New signing Nuno Tavares managed to make quite an impression as he got a debut goal with a finely taken finish. The Gunners will not be happy about conceding twice from corners and it is something they need to work on.
The match looked like it was heading for a win for the hosts, but Eddie Nketiah came up with a smart finish to level things up. Arteta was asked about what he made of the performance, and he told the club website:
“Overall, I’m really pleased with the performance. I think we dominated the game, we created so many chances – I counted about eight or 10 clear chances to score – but this game is decided in both boxes. We weren’t clinical in the opponent’s box, and we conceded two goals from two corners, which were the only chances they had apart from the counterattack from our own corner.
“It’s much better from the other day and you tell that physically we were already better in the second game, the organisation was better, individually they played better, but I really liked the collective understanding of the game and how we executed a lot of things we’ve been working on in the training pitch.”
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There were a lot of encouraging signs to be taken from the game especially in the second half. Rangers are a tough team to beat and are managed by one of the world’s best young managers.
But the Gunners dug in and were able to string together some impressive moves. If they had been a little more clinical in front of goal, it would have been a comfortable win for the visitors.
Arsenal will leave Scotland having learnt a lot about themselves. What the club and Arteta must look to do now is take the positives from these performances and work on the negatives.
