Gervinho scores on debut in Germany

Gervinho scored twice on his Arsenal debut as the Gunners beat Cologne in Germany 2-1 last Saturday afternoon. However a freak own goal from Carl Jenkinson meant that Arsenal were not able to keep a clean sheet. More players went to Germany than on the whole of the Asia Tour, so to play all of the players Arsene Wenger had 3 players which were substituted again after coming on.



With basically Gervinho's first touch of the ball he scored on 7 minutes. Wilshere played the ball through to Gervinho who chipped the ball over the oncoming Cologne goalkeeper for 1-0 to Arsenal.

Cologne's first chance fell to Podolski after Novakovic found him but he could only drag his shot wide of Szczesny's goal.

7 minutes after their first goal Arsenal doubled their lead and it was Gervinho who had scored again. Wilshere found Walcott who got into the box and slid the ball into the Ivorian who could not miss as he made it 2-0.

However Gervinho had to be substituted after just 29 minutes because of the clash he had had with the goalkeeper during his second goal.

On the stroke of half time it was 2-1 as a long ball was played forward from a Cologne player but Jenkinson scuffed his clearance and the ball looped over Szczesny and into the back of the net.

In the last 10 minutes of the game Arsenal had a chance to make it 3-1 as Frimpong won the ball back in the middle of the park and played Arshavin in but his shot was saved by Varvodic in the Cologne goal.

Arsenal 1st half: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Walcott, Ramsey, Song, Wilshere, Gervinho(from 29 Miyaichi), Van Persie.
Arsenal 2nd half: Mannone(from 69 Fabianski), Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Henderson(from 70-89 then Afobe), Frimpong, Rosicky, Nasri, Arshavin, Vela, Van Persie.

Cologne: Rensing(16), Brecko, Mohamad(87), Riether, Podolski, Novakovic(83), Andrezinho(63), Lanig(63), Jajalo(84), Chihi(63), Geromel.
Subs: Varvodic(16), Eichner(63), Pezzoni(63), Peszko(63), Makino(87), Clemens(83), Roshi(84).

Referee: Christian Fischer
Attendance: 41,500

Arsenal finish Asia tour with a draw

Arsenal finished off their pre-season Asia Tour with a 1-1 draw on Saturday with Chinese side Hangzhou Greentown in front of 20,000 fans packed into the Meihu Stadium. Carlos Vela's equaliser was the only goal for Arsenal despite them having numerous occasions to get the victory. Arsene Wenger once again fielded two sides in each half. Arsenal showed off their new home kit for the first time. The players were also wearing Chinese spellings of their surnames on the back of their shirts to mark the occasion of playing in China.

The first clear cut chance of the match fell to Greentown forward Pazzolano who got past Squillaci and hit a shot past Mannone and onto the inside of the post. The ball then came back out but Sagna was there to stop Pazzolano from having another chance to score.

2 minutes later on fifteen minutes Hangzhou took the lead through Vazquez. The ball was whipped in from the free kick which took a deflection and bounced straight off Mannone into the path of Vazquez who smashed the ball into the back of the net for 1-0 to Greentown.

Just before the break Carlos Vela grabbed an equaliser with a simple goal from 2 yards out to score his second goal in as many matches for the Gunners. Van Persie and Arshavin played a nice one-two before the dutch striker struck a shot which came off the goalkeeper and fell straight into the path of Vela who could not miss.

Arsenal in the second half became much more livelier as they began to create more chances. One of those chances fell to Gibbs who linked up well with Miyaichi before unleashing a shot across the face of the goal but the Hangzhou goalkeeper Jiang Bo made the save the keep the score level.

Arsenal then had two great efforts to win the game denied. Chamakh found Ramsey on the edge of the box who then found Walcott inside the area but his shot was blocked. The ball then came back to Walcott but he put his next shot over the bar.

Arsenal First Half: Mannone, Sagna, Djourou, Squillaci, Traore, Rosicky, Frimpong, Nasri, Arshavin, Vela, Van Persie.

Arsenal Second Half: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Song, Wilshere, Ramsey, Walcott, Miyaichi, Chamakh.

Arsenal will now travel back to England and then fly out to Germany to play Cologne next Saturday afternoon in a game which could see recently signed Ivorian forward Gervinho make his debut for the club.

First Pre-season friendly ends in victory

Arsenal's first game of their Asia tour and their first pre-season friendly ended in a win as the Gunners beat a Malaysia XI 4-0 on Wednesday night. Arsenal found life easy in the heat of Kuala Lumpur as 70,000 fans came to cheer on the Gunners in the Bukit Jalil Stadium. Arsene Wengar handed debuts to Carl Jenkinson at right back and to Ryo Miyaichi who played on the left flank as the Arsenal manager practically fielded two different sides each half with 8 being substituted at half time and the other 3 being subbed in the 66th minute. In the match Arsenal wore their new 125th anniversary blue away shirt for the first time.

The two teams hardly had anytime to get a rhythm together when on 4 minutes Jack Wilshere raced into the box and was tripped by Mohd Aidil Zafuan and the referee gave a penalty. Aaron Ramsey stepped up and comfortably slotted the ball into the back of the net for Arsenal's first goal of pre-season.

Malaysia XI's first real chance of the game came from a free kick as the ball was put in which dipped just under the bar but Szczesny managed to tip the ball over.

9 minutes before the break Arsenal doubled their lead when Ramsey played a ball over the Malaysia XI defence and into the path of Walcott who chipped the ball over the oncoming goalkeeper for 2-0 Arsenal.

After the break Arsenal carried their momentum and on 58 minutes Arsenal went 3-0 up. The ball being played through to Vela who ran through on goal and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper.

10 minutes later Vela had another great chance as he took the ball past one player and then the goalkeeper, before getting a shot out from 7 yards, but a defender was on the line to clear the ball away.

In the dying moments of the game Arshavin raced to the byline and got in a cross which was deflected into the path of Rosicky who headed home from 4 yards out to make it 4-0 to Arsenal.

A minute later Malaysia XI did have another chance as the ball was put in but poor contact was made with the shot and Mannone could make an easy save.

A good comfortable win for Arsenal as they will look to build on that performance when they take on Chinese side Hangzhou Greentown on Saturday afternoon(UK Time).

Arsenal First Half: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs, Song, Wilshere, Ramsey, Walcott, Miyaichi, Chamakh.

Arsenal Second Half: Mannone, Jenkinson(66 for Sagna), Squillaci, Djourou, Traore, Frimpong, Denilson(66 for Nasri), Rosicky, Arshavin(66 for Ramsey), Vela, Van Persie(66 for Miyaichi).

Man of the match: Aaron Ramsey.

Pre-Season Update

The Arsenal players are now back from their holidays and are back in training getting ready for their pre-season tour of Asia. The Gunners' first match will be against the Malaysia XI on Wednesday 13th July at 13:45 and they will finish their tour against Hangzhou Greentown on Saturday 16th July at 12:30. A week later Arsenal will be in Germany for a game against FC Cologne which kicks off at 14:30.

The week after, Arsenal will be back in England for their annual Emirates Cup at the Emirates Stadium. This year it will consist of Argentinian side Boca Juniors, French side Paris Saint German, American side New York Red Bulls, who now have former Gunner Thierry Henry among their side and, of course, Arsenal will be taking part in the Competition. The tournament will take place on the 30th when Arsenal will play Boca Juniors and PSG will face New York Red Bulls. It will then continue the next day when Arsenal play New York Red Bulls and Boca Juniors face PSG.

The Gunners will then play one more friendly as they prepare for the new campaign with a trip to Portugal, to face Benfica on Saturday 6th August. Arsenal have a tricky start to the new season as they first face Newcastle and then play Liverpool and Manchester United in the same month after mid week games in the Champions League qualifying stages. (Opponent has yet to be announced).

Meanwhile Arsenal secured their first summer signing by securing the services of 19 year old English born, Finnish defender Carl Jenkinson, from Charlton for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £1 million. He has taken the number 25 shirt formally worn by striker Emmanuel Adebayor. Arsenal have also officially welcomed 18 year old Japenese midfielder, Ryo Miyaichi into their side after sending him out on loan to Dutch side Feyenoord for the rest of the season after the Gunners signed him in January.

Arsenal also released their new away kit for the 2011/12 season. The kit will feature two different shades of blue with the left hand side being covered in a navy blue and the other side in a sky blue. The kit will also feature the 125th anniversary crest which has been designed especially for the new season. The goalkeeper shirt will be a dark green with part of the sleeves being striped with light green and black.