adminSaitama — A late winner from 17-year-old substitute Chuba Akpom rescued Arsenal yesterday as the Gunners completed their Asian tour with a 2-1 win over Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds.At 1-1 with eight minutes left, Arsenal’s 100 percent record in Asia was under threat but Akpom capitalised on a defensive blunder to slot the decisive goal.
Arsenal were held scoreless for 49 minutes before Lukas Podolski’s opener, which was cancelled out by Japanese international Yuki Abe 10 minutes later.
Akpom’s late strike then ensured a winning finish to Arsenal’s tour, which earlier took in Jakarta, Hanoi and a game against Japan’s Nagoya Grampus, former club of manager Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal hammered seven goals past both the Indonesian Dream Team and Vietnam, and beat Nagoya 3-1, but they found life tougher against former Asian champions Urawa.
“We wanted a competitive game, we were not disappointed, because we played with good pace, defended very well, and we were very sharp on counter-attacks,” said Wenger, after the game.
“So it was a good test for us. We created many chances, but I’d like to congraturate Urawa Reds, because they played very well.”
Meanwhile, Urawa coach Mihailo Petrovic said: “I’m happy to play against Arsenal. We showed a good game and we played our own game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t win.” — AFP
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo