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Pre-season Friendlies
Jul 26, 2015 at 4.20pm UK
 
Wolfsburg

1-0

Walcott (50')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Live Commentary: Arsenal 1-0 Wolfsburg - as it happened

Relive Arsenal's 1-0 pre-season victory over Wolfsburg as Theo Walcott's goal is enough to hand the Emirates Cup to the Gunners.
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Arsenal won the Emirates Cup this afternoon courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Wolfsburg.

The Gunners went into the match knowing that a draw would be enough to clinch the trophy for the first time since 2010.

Theo Walcott got the only goal of the game in North London, stabbing the ball into the bottom corner five minutes after half time.

Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of Sports Mole's live minute-by-minute coverage below.


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Good afternoon! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's Emirates Cup match between hosts Arsenal and Wolfsburg. These two sides had contrasting fortunes on the opening day of action in the tournament yesterday and will be looking for a win today in what is both of their final games of pre-season. Let's start with a look at the two teams on show...

ARSENAL STARTING XI: Cech; Bellerin, Chambers, Gabriel, Monreal; Arteta, Cazorla, Reine-Adelaide, Ozil, Wilshere; Walcott

WOLFSBURG STARTING XI: Benaglio; Jung, Naldo, Klose, Rodriguez; Träsch, Guilavogui, Vieirinha, De Bruyne, Schurrle; Bendtner

What can we make of those two teams, then? Well, as expected it is almost all change for the Gunners, with Ozil the only player to retain his place from the demolition of Lyon yesterday. Wenger has brought in 10 new faces around the German, including a start up front for Theo Walcott. That is understood to be the attacker's favoured position and, after a promising end to last season, he has another chance to prove his credentials as a central striker here.

Behind him, Wilshere joins Ozil in the midfield, while there is also a spot for young Reine-Adelaide - a play thought to be highly rated by Wenger. Arteta had plenty of injury problems last season but has a chance to get some valuable match practice in today, and he is also joined by Cazorla, who got the sixth and final goal for the Gunners yesterday. Despite so many changes, it is still a strong side from the hosts.

Chambers is given the nod at the heart of the defence, although that back four is very much a second string one at this point. Yesterday's defence of Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny and Gibbs is likely to be more like the one we will see on the opening day of the Premier League season but, like a number of other players today, the players selected will have the opportunity to put their hands up here. Arsenal's only summer signing, Petr Cech, fills in between the sticks.

As for Wolfsburg, there is one name in particular that will jump out to Arsenal fans - the return to Nicklas Bendtner to the Emirates. He leads the line for the Bundesliga outfit, which means no start for Dutch striker Bas Dost, who got 19 goals for the club last season. There is also no Max Kruse, although fellow summer arrival Francisco Rodriguez does start.

Some other familiar faces in the Wolfsburg side include Kevin de Bruyne and Andre Schurrle, both of whom return to London following spells at Chelsea. The former had a magnificent campaign last term, notching 27 assists in all competitions, but Schurrle has something of a point to prove in pre-season having struggled to hold down a regular spot in the Wolfsburg side since his February arrival.

Arsenal will come into this match as slight favourites given their result yesterday, and should they be victorious again then they will lift the Emirates Cup. This competition differs from a normal one in that a point is awarded for each goal in addition to the usual three for a win, so the Gunners' drubbing of Lyon yesterday put them on nine points from their opening match.

Villarreal have just beaten Lyon 2-0 in the first game of the day, which puts the Spanish outfit up to 10 points, one above Arsenal. A score draw would be enough for the Gunners today, then, although Wenger is sure to want to build on that result yesterday. A good performance against a team of Wolfsburg's quality, even in pre-season, would send out a bit of a warning to other sides.

Indeed, it has been a very promising pre-season for the Gunners so far. Whether they are ready to mount a serious challenge to the likes of Chelsea for the Premier League title remains to be seen, but they have already won the Asia Trophy this month and optimism is bound to be high ahead of the new campaign. It has been fairly quiet on the transfer front, with only Petr Cech coming in, but the Gunners do boast a very strong squad already if everyone can stay fit.

Arsenal have not won the Emirates Cup since the 2011 tournament, which was the third time that they have emerged victorious in it. They will be slightly wary about complacency this afternoon given that they also began with a big win in last year's tournament, hammering Benfica 5-1 only to lose to Monaco a day later and miss out on the crown to Valencia.

Arsenal's season gets underway in a week, when they once again descend on Wembley for the Community Shield final against Premier League champions Chelsea. Another week after that is the start of the new Premier League season, with the Gunners facing a London derby against West Ham United on the Sunday of the opening weekend.

As for Wolfsburg, they have the German Super Cup coming up next Saturday, with the daunting task of Bayern Munich awaiting them. Their participation in that is as a result of their DFB-Pokal victory last season - the first time they have ever won that trophy and only the second major piece of silverware in the club's history, after the Bundesliga in 2008-09.

Indeed, it was one of the most successful seasons ever for Wolfsburg last term. They still couldn't really come close to Bayern in the league, finishing 10 points adrift of the Bavarian giants, but they showed plenty of promising signs that they can continue to chip away at that gap this season. They impressed in Europe too, and will feature in the Champions League during the upcoming campaign.

Pre-season has been a little mixed for Dieter Hacking's side though, it must be said. They have been held to draws by Lechia Gdansk and Ajax, as well as their 2-1 defeat at the hands of Villarreal yesterday. They were able to put four past Zurich, but that is their only pre-season victory so far.

A mere victory will not been enough for them to win the Emirates Cup today, however. They would need to go something fairly special to catch up with Arsenal and Villarreal's points tallies, with only a 6-0 triumph being enough to catch the Spanish leaders. They certainly have goals in their squad with the likes of Dost, De Bruyne and *ahem* Bendtner, but it would be a major surprise if they ran out such convincing winners today.

As mentioned, Wolfsburg face Bayern in the Super Cup next weekend, but their league season does not get underway until August 16, when they will face Eintracht Frankfurt. In between those two matches, they will face Stuttgarter Kickers to begin their first ever defence of the DFB-Pokal.

PREDICTION: We're just a minute away from kickoff at a pretty full Emirates Stadium, which means that it is time for a prediction! The Gunners should be flying high after yesterday's result and, although Wolfsburg are a very good side, I can see the hosts emerging victorious again here. I'll go for a 2-1 home win.

KICKOFF: Here we go then! Arsenal get us underway for their final fixture of pre-season. Let's hope for another goal-fest!

Bright start to the match from Arsenal, with Wilshere in particular looking confident on the ball. He strides forward from midfield, running right at the heart of the defence, but his cross is cut out.

At the other end De Bruyne picks the ball up on the left wing and fizzes a low cross of his own into the box, but Cech is out to make a crucial interception from his former Chelsea teammate.

There is a good atmosphere inside the stadium when Arsenal are on the ball, with these fans keen to see more entertaining football after being treated yesterday. De Bruyne is getting the villain treatment due to his Chelsea connections, though.

Better from Wolfsburg as they put Arsenal under some concerted pressure for the first real time today. They win a number of corners in quick succession, but the Gunners manage to deal with all of them.

It will be interesting to see how Arsenal's game plan changes as this match develops here. They only need a draw to win the Emirates Cup but, being a pre-season game, I can't imagine they will hold back and play for a point. These fans certainly want to see goals.

It is Wolfsburg who are dominating the possession at the moment, with Arsenal unable to really get hold of it for any real length of time in the last couple of minutes. It has been a solid start from both teams, though.

Not too much from monsieur Bendtner so far on his return to North London. He was criticised by Dieter Hecking for his fitness levels earlier in pre-season, and it must be said that he does look like he is carrying a bit of extra timber.

CHANCE! Right on cue, the first half chance of the match falls the way of Wolfsburg and Bendtner. The cross arrived in from the right flank and Bendtner found space inside the box, but he couldn't properly connect with his volley. He probably should have gone for that with his head rather than trying a very difficult finish.

Arsenal are struggling to really get going in this one. They were 4-0 up by half time in yesterday's match against Lyon, but right now it is Wolfsburg who look most likely to open the scoring here.

CLOSE! Arsenal are almost caught sleeping from a corner as De Bruyne feeds a low pass in towards the near post, meeting the run of Trasch. His effort takes a deflection off Monreal and could go anywhere, but luckily for the Gunners is flies just wide.

CHANCE! Arsenal's first chance of the match finally arrives midway through the opening 45 minutes, and it is a lovely pass from Ozil that creates it. Walcott is a little fortunate not to be flagged offside and he races on to the through-ball down the left channel, but the angle is against him and he can't beat the keeper at his near post.

Threatening play from Wolfsburg at the other end as first De Bruyne sends a beauty of a cross right into the corridor of uncertainty that Bendtner is inches away from turning home. Moments later the ball drops to Trasch, but his volley is blocked by Arteta.

CHANCE! Another chance for Walcott as again his pace causes problems in behind. He beats the offside trap to find himself clean through on goal, but takes too much time which allows Jung to get back and make a crucial challenge.

We haven't seen much of Reine-Adelaide yet today, but the youngster gives a glimpse of his quality here. He advances into the area on the left side and shows good footwork to earn a yard, but he can't test the keeper from a tight angle.

Petr Cech has had a couple of difficult crosses to deal with today, but every touch the veteran makes is cheered to the rafters. He is understandably a very popular signing for the Gunners, despite his Chelsea connections.

We're half an hour in now and Wolfsburg have had the better of it so far. The visitors have seen the majority of the ball, although Arsenal have probably had the two best chances through Walcott, neither of which he was able to take.

DISALLOWED GOAL! Arsenal have the ball in the back of the net, but the linesman's flag is correctly raised for offside. It was a brilliant move from the Gunners, and Walcott finished it with aplomb, but he was a yard or so off.

SAVE! Decent football from Wolfsburg as a long ball forward is teed up for Bendtner around 25 yards from goal. The former Arsenal man tries to pass it into the corner, but his effort lacks the power to seriously trouble Cech.

YELLOW CARD! There is generally a little more leniency when it comes to pre-seasons, but the referee has no option but to produce a card here for Klose. The defender hacked down Wilshere with a poor and cynical challenge.

CHANCE! Big chance for Wolfsburg to break the deadlock as the ball drops to Klose from yet another corner, but he lashes at it and slices it off target. It wasn't the easiest of balls to hit, but he should have done better than that.

Wenger gets a cheer for showing a few of his own skills when the ball came towards him on the sideline. He has been pacing up and down all game so far, clearly not entirely satisfied with how this match is going.

Craig Pawson is forced to give a warning to Gabriel here, and in truth the defender is fortunate not to be the second name in the book. He went steaming into a challenge and got nowhere near the ball, but he gets away with it.

CLOSE! This is more like it from Arsenal. Ozil and Wilshere combine with a lovely one-two just outside the box, before the former works it out wide to Monreal. He cuts it back to Ozil, who flicks a deft finish narrowly past the far post. That would have been some goal.

Dodgy defending from Klose as he is given the ball inside his own area with two red shirts closing in on him. He almost makes a complete mess of it by giving the ball straight to Cazorla, who can't react in time to capitalise.

HALF TIME: Arsenal 0-0 Wolfsburg

The referee brings an end to the first half, and we're still goalless between Arsenal and Wolfsburg in the Emirates Cup. In truth, it hasn't been the best game you will ever see so far, but it is still nicely poised and could go either way in the second half.

Wolfsburg's Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne (2nd L) vies with Arsenal's Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla and Arsenal's English defender Calum Chambers (R) during the pre-season friendly football match between Arsenal and Wolfsburg at The Emirates Stadi© Getty Images


Wolfsburg have had the better of things so far in terms of possession, although they haven't created much in terms of clear chances. Klose had the best opening for the visitors when the ball dropped to him from a corner, but he lashed at his effort and sliced it well wide.

Aside from that, Trasch and Bendtner have both had decent openings that they couldn't make the most of, although Cech is yet to be seriously tested by Wolfsburg. The German outfit have certainly posed sterner opposition for the Gunners than Lyon did yesterday, but it has been a typical pre-season clash for the most part.

As for Arsenal, they took a while to get going but started to show a few signs of warming up towards the end of the half. Ozil in particular burst into life by exchanging passes with Wilshere and Monreal before sending a clever effort narrowly past the far post. For the most part the German has been quiet, though, and it would be a surprise if he lasted much longer having also played yesterday.

Theo Walcott has had a couple of good openings as well, but his end product has been found lacking on both occasions. The first saw him fail to beat the keeper from a tight angle, while shortly after that he was clean through on goal, only to get the ball caught under his feet a little, allowing the defence to get back and make the tackle.

KICKOFF: We're back underway at the Emirates, and there have been a couple of changes at the break. Wolfsburg have introduced Caligiuri in place of Vieirinha, while Ozil departs in favour of Chuba Akpom.

Hopefully we will see a little more urgency from these players in this second half. A draw will do for Arsenal in terms of winning the Emirates Cup, but they have plenty of players out there who will be keen to make an impression.

GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Wolfsburg (Theo Walcott)

First blood goes to Arsenal, and it is Walcott who has finally got his name on the scoresheet today. Reine-Adelaide deserves a lot of credit, picking the ball up in the hole, spinning away from his marker and playing a fine through-ball to Walcott. The striker takes a touch before stabbing it into the bottom corner with the outside of his right boot, leaving the keeper no chance. Very good goal.

Akpom is now in the central striking role instead of Walcott, but finishes like that will do his hopes of playing through the middle no harm at all. He failed to make the most of a couple of chances in the first half, but that was a very well taken goal.

Arsenal are given a warning shot shortly after taking the lead, with Rodriguez floating a free kick into the box towards Guilavogui. No-one has tracked the Wolfsburg man, but he gets his header all wrong and the offside flag was up anyway.

SHOT! Dreadful from Arteta as he gives the ball away to De Bruyne inside his own half. The attacking midfielder pounces on the loose ball and works a yard to shoot, but his left-footed effort ends up high and wide, much to the delight of the home fans. He got that one all wrong, and no-one will be more relieved than Arteta.

This has been better from Arsenal in the second half. Wolfsburg haven't had things as much their own way and the Gunners are looking like more of a threat in the final third.

Good goalkeeping from Benaglio as he acts as sweeper to deny Walcott another clear chance. It was Reine-Adelaide who sent the ball through, but the keeper got there first.

SAVE! Better from Wolfsburg at the other end, but again it ends in a fairly routine stop from Cech. Rodriguez opts for a curling effort from range instead of power, and Cech collects it with minimum fuss.

SHOT! Almost a cracking finish from Walcott as he goes for a powerful, curling first-time effort from Akpom's pass. It would have been a stunning strike, but he sent it narrowly wide.

WOLFSBURG SUB: Another change from the visitors as Max Kruse comes on to replace De Bruyne.

SAVE! Finally Cech is called upon to make a good save, getting down low to his right to beat away a fine strike from Guilavogui, who hammered it goalwards with a first-time effort.

ARSENAL SUBS: Double change from the Gunners as the impressive Reine-Adelaide and Arteta make way to be replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey.

CHANCE! Immediate impact from Oxlade-Chamberlain as he goes tearing down the right flank, beating two defenders before pulling the ball back for Ramsey. The Welshman has time to take a touch before attempting to lift the ball over the keeper and into the far corner, but it drops the wrong side of the post.

The shots are starting to fly now. Caligiuri is the latest to go for goal here, lining up his effort from around 20 yards out only to fire it well off target when he should have done better.

Just over 20 minutes remaining in this match and still it is Theo Walcott's goal that separates the two sides. It has been a much more entertaining second half so far.

Arsenal's English midfielder Theo Walcott celebrates scoring the opening goal of the pre-season friendly football match between Arsenal and Wolfsburg at The Emirates Stadium in north London on July 26, 2015© Getty Images


WOLFSBURG SUB: Another change for the visitors as Trasch makes way to be replaced by Maximilian Arnold.

CHANCE! Good chance for Arsenal to double there advantage as Bellerin and Ramsey combine to win the ball back high up the pitch and give it to Akpom. The striker takes a touch and manages to get his shot off quickly, but Benaglio gets down well to make a smart stop.

YELLOW CARD! Naldo becomes the second name in the book for a clumsy challenge right on the edge of the box. Santi Cazorla standing over this free kick...

SAVE! Cazorla works it low around the wall, but it is on the keeper's side and he makes the stop. He'd have seen that one late so it was a decent stop from Benaglio.

ARSENAL SUBS: Two more changes for the Gunners as goalscorer Walcott goes off for Olivier Giroud, while Isaac Hayden replaces Wilshere.

Cech is called into action again with a long-range effort, but it's food and drink for a keeper of his quality. It was Guilavogui who hit this one, but he couldn't get much power behind his strike.

SAVE! Hayden looks to make an impression during his cameo, testing Benaglio with a fine 25-yard effort. There was a slight deflection on the way through, but Benaglio was still at full stretch to parry the ball away.

WOLFSBURG SUBS: Another double change from Wolfsburg as Bendtner goes off to a rather mixed reaction from the home fans, while Guilavogui also departs. Francisco Rodriguez and Paul Seguin are their replacements.

Arsenal are edging ever closer to Emirates Cup glory here, with Wolfsburg needing two goals to deny the Gunners now.

YELLOW CARDS! Handbags between Arnold and Cazorla as the Wolfsburg man pulls the Spaniard back, which in turn sees Cazorla kick out. Both go into the book as a result.

Schurrle is the latest to go for goal from outside the box, but like the majority of his teammates he can't keep his effort down. It certainly didn't lack power, but it was some way off target in the end.

YELLOW CARD! The cards are racking up for a friendly! Monreal is the latest name in the book for a cynical trip on his way back into position.

Great chance for Arsenal to break as Akpom bursts forward through a tackle to give the Gunners a three-on-one situation. Akpom can't make the most of it, however, as his pass goes behind Giroud.

There will be just the one minute of added time.

FULL TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Wolfsburg

ARSENAL WIN THE 2015 EMIRATES CUP!

Arsenal make it two wins from two this weekend to wrap up their first Emirates Cup success since 2010 and a fourth overall. A lot of the hard work was done yesterday with a 6-0 victory that gave the Gunners nine points, meaning thay any sort of win today was likely to be enough. That is exactly how it has turned out too, with a 1-0 triumph over Wolfsburg securing the trophy.

It was Theo Walcott who got the only goal of the game, stabbing home a pass from Reine-Adelaide in the second half. In the end it was a deserved win for the Gunners, who were slightly second best in the first half but prevented Wolfsburg from building any sort of momentum in the second.

That is all we have time for this evening! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's game as Arsenal win the Emirates Cup courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Wolfsburg. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction. From me, though, it is goodbye for now!

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Arsenals English striker Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain celebrates scoring his goal with Arsenals French striker Olivier Giroud during the pre-season friendly football match between Arsenal and Lyon at The Emirates Stadium in north London on July 25, 2015
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