
The Gunners were held to a draw in the opening game of their pre-season tour, against Bournemouth, as their preparations continue.
Fabio Vieria got the first goal in the 17th minute to give Arsenal the lead early on. This was the first half's only goal as Mikel Arteta's men took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Substitute Antoine Semenyo got the equaliser for the Cherries in the 73rd minute after his shot looped past Karl Hein - which saw the game end level at 1-1.
Arsenal's next game is against Manchester United at the SoFi Stadium on Sunday night, while Bournemouth play Rayo Vallecano.
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Story of the match
Arsenal named a younger side against Bournemouth, with Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly the standout names coming into the starting eleven.
Nwaneri showed in the opening 10 minutes his pace on the right wing as he got away from Milos Kerkez and slotted a nice through ball to Eddie Nketiah, but the striker's effort was well blocked.
The Cherries then started to apply more pressure after a lacklustre opening period, with Dominic Solanke leading the way.
However, the Gunners scored the opening goal after Vieira's well-timed volley at the back post beat Neto, with Reiss Nelson assisting the Portuguese international with a good ball from the edge of the byline playing on the left wing.
After the goal, Bournemouth searched for the equaliser, with Solanke being found in the 18-yard box. The striker turned his man and hit a powerful shot towards Hein, but the goalkeeper made an excellent save to deny the prolific scorer.
Arsenal played on the front foot for the first half and showed this towards the end of the first half, with Eddie Nketiah impressing as he drove at the Cherries' defence, but the North London side could not convert any of their chances as they took the lead into halftime.
As both teams came back onto the pitch for the second half, both made changes. Bournemouth brought on three players, while the Gunners only brought on Martin Ødegaard for Salah Oulad M'Hand.
Captain Martin Ødegaard, after coming on, brought more stability to the Gunners' midfield as he showed his presence early on in the second half as they nearly extended their lead.
However, Arsenal failed to capitalise on this as they made another seven changes in the 63rd minute, with Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard coming on.
Four minutes later, Bournemouth nearly equalised after Omar Rekik slipped just outside of his penalty area, giving Dango Ouattaraa a perfect opportunity to score, but the winger’s effort was excellently saved by Hein.
Rekik then gave the ball away again six minutes later, and this time, the Cherries punished Arsenal and levelled the game up. Antoine Semenyo capitalised off Rekik’s mistake as his effort took a wild deflection, but the winger’s effort somehow beat Hein at his far post.
Trossard nearly won the game for Arsenal in the 82nd minute after good play from Ødegaard and Jesus meant the Belgium international was set up on the left-hand side of the box. However, Neto made an impressive save with his feet to deny the winger getting the winning goal.
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Penalty shootout
With the game level after 90 minutes, fans were treated to a penalty shootout, which ultimately saw the Gunners prevail.
Antoine Semeyno and Martin Ødegaard stepped up first for their respective teams, both scoring to get off the mark in the shootout.
Philip Billing was up next for Bournemouth, and saw his effort saved, before Oleksandr Zinchenko put the Gunners in the lead.
Dango Outtara and Jorginho both made no mistake from the spot but, after Adam Smith had converted from the spot, Leandro Trossard sent his effort off target - levelling the score of the shootout once more.
With the fifth round of the shootout, Daniel Jebbison and Gabriel Jesus both did as was asked of them, forcing another round of takers to step up.
Ryan Christie was the first to buckle under the pressure, as he saw his effort saved, before Jakub Kiwior converted his own spot-kick - giving the win to Arsenal.
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Man of the match - Eddie Nketiah
Nketiah was the man of the match due to his excellent performance and overall influence on the game.
He carried the ball forward and was a threat whenever he got it, and had a couple of chances but was unlucky not to score.
He can be a role model for the younger players on the pitch tonight, as he was in their position a couple of years ago and has been a key piece to Arsenal’s success over the last couple of years.

