Teenage Winger Saka Shows Promise As Arsenal Lose To Barcelona In First Ever Friendly

Published: August 04, 2019

Arsenal lost 2-1 to Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy match on Sunday evening at the Camp Nou.

It was a historic game as it was the first ever friendly between the two teams, having previously faced each other on nine occasions in the Champions League.

With the scoreboard reading 1-1, Saka hopped off the bench as replacement for Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the 71st minute, his fifth appearance for the Gunners first team in pre-season.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring with a fine finish in the 36th minute after receiving a pass from Ozil and the score stayed that way until the 69th minute when Maitland-Niles put the ball into his own net as he attempted a back pass.

Eight minutes after Saka's introduction, Aubameyang could not get a touch on a delightful ball from the winger and in the 80th minute, Martinelli fired just wide after another good ball from the Nigerian.

Unai Emery's team paid dearly for their missed opportunities as Luis Suarez scored a last minute goal to hand Barcelona victory.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : arsenal.com