‘Young Gunners claim another Italian Scalp’
Lazio 1 - 2 Arsenal – Amsterdam Tournament – 3rd July 2007
Arsenal continued their pre season preparations with a battling 2-1 victory in the opening match of the prestigious Amsterdam Tournament. Goals from forwards Nicklas Bendtner and new signing Eduardo Da Silva lifted Arsenal past Lazio and despite some obvious defensive frailties the Gunners recorded a third high profile win in a matter of days.
Having received positive news just ahead of the kick off with Eduardo Da Silva being given a positive decision regarding his work permit, Arsenal continued to ride the wave of good form and following on from their excellent performances in the Emirates Tournament over the weekend and despite beginning slowly in Ajax Amsterdam Arena they claimed a fully deserved victory over their Italian opponents.
Starting with several of the players who missed out in North London on Saturday and Sunday the Gunners began with Walcott, Da Silva and Alexander Song in their side as Wenger continued preparations for the big Premiership kick off on the 11th August. Their opponents Lazio who are still far behind Arsenal in their pre season preparations due to the late start of the Italian season, began with a few new acquisitions in their line up as they bid to regain full fitness ahead of their Champions League Qualifying campaign.
In the opening stages Arsenal’s Almunia helped his side escape going behind early and after being called into action several times, the North London side were paticularily indebted to their goalkeeper when a ball through the Arsenal backline required the Spanish stopper to race quickly off his line in a bid to halt the onrushing striker, aided by Philippe Senderos the Gunners soon cleared their lines seemingly learning their lesson.
Some neat touches up front from the new Brazilian born signing quickly turned into Arsenal’s first real chance of the game though Theo Walcott’s cross could not be met by any of the arriving players. The Gunners persistence soon paid off as Arsenal took the lead midway through the first half with a strike from Bendtner. The striker who scored his first goal for the club in the win over PSG pounced on a deflected Fabregas shot and despite a poor first touch he was able to round the goalkeeper before slotting the ball past two defenders from a tight angle.
Confidence in the young Arsenal side soon began to run free and Clichy was denied by an excellent save from Ballotta whilst Alexander Song and Cesc Fabregas looked capable of providing the killer ball at any time. The Gunners continued to look shaky at the defensive end however and were almost made to pay when a free header from Pandev was headed straight into the arms of Almunia.
Indecision between Djourou and Senderos almost cost the Gunners dear but Hoyte was on hand to clear a loose ball from a corner, though seconds late poor defending from Eduardo was punished as Pandev struck for Lazio just before half time. Dwelling on the ball in the area the eight million pound man allowed gifted the Macedonian striker the opportunity to make it one each.
Arsenal made a couple of changes at the break but continued to dominate. Within the first ten minutes they reclaimed the lead through Da Silva who headed home a corner from Rosicky whilst unmarked in the area. Lazio had little response to the great one touch football of Arsenal who continued to dominate late on despite seeing their opponents hit the crossbar through Mudingayi.
Arsenal could have indeed added a third goal after intricate play from Rosicky and Van Persie set up Hotye but the full back fluffed his lines and hit the post with the goalkeeper beaten. The Gunners continued to suffer from inexperience in defensive areas but the introduction of Kolo Toure steadied the ship a little towards the end and gave Arsenal and excellent chance of winning their second pre season tournament in a week.
Starting with several of the players who missed out in North London on Saturday and Sunday the Gunners began with Walcott, Da Silva and Alexander Song in their side as Wenger continued preparations for the big Premiership kick off on the 11th August. Their opponents Lazio who are still far behind Arsenal in their pre season preparations due to the late start of the Italian season, began with a few new acquisitions in their line up as they bid to regain full fitness ahead of their Champions League Qualifying campaign.
In the opening stages Arsenal’s Almunia helped his side escape going behind early and after being called into action several times, the North London side were paticularily indebted to their goalkeeper when a ball through the Arsenal backline required the Spanish stopper to race quickly off his line in a bid to halt the onrushing striker, aided by Philippe Senderos the Gunners soon cleared their lines seemingly learning their lesson.
Some neat touches up front from the new Brazilian born signing quickly turned into Arsenal’s first real chance of the game though Theo Walcott’s cross could not be met by any of the arriving players. The Gunners persistence soon paid off as Arsenal took the lead midway through the first half with a strike from Bendtner. The striker who scored his first goal for the club in the win over PSG pounced on a deflected Fabregas shot and despite a poor first touch he was able to round the goalkeeper before slotting the ball past two defenders from a tight angle.
Confidence in the young Arsenal side soon began to run free and Clichy was denied by an excellent save from Ballotta whilst Alexander Song and Cesc Fabregas looked capable of providing the killer ball at any time. The Gunners continued to look shaky at the defensive end however and were almost made to pay when a free header from Pandev was headed straight into the arms of Almunia.
Indecision between Djourou and Senderos almost cost the Gunners dear but Hoyte was on hand to clear a loose ball from a corner, though seconds late poor defending from Eduardo was punished as Pandev struck for Lazio just before half time. Dwelling on the ball in the area the eight million pound man allowed gifted the Macedonian striker the opportunity to make it one each.
Arsenal made a couple of changes at the break but continued to dominate. Within the first ten minutes they reclaimed the lead through Da Silva who headed home a corner from Rosicky whilst unmarked in the area. Lazio had little response to the great one touch football of Arsenal who continued to dominate late on despite seeing their opponents hit the crossbar through Mudingayi.
Arsenal could have indeed added a third goal after intricate play from Rosicky and Van Persie set up Hotye but the full back fluffed his lines and hit the post with the goalkeeper beaten. The Gunners continued to suffer from inexperience in defensive areas but the introduction of Kolo Toure steadied the ship a little towards the end and gave Arsenal and excellent chance of winning their second pre season tournament in a week.