Arsenal misplaced a second recreation in six days as targets by Nicolas Pepe, Karl Etta Eyong and Arnaut Danjuma gave Villarreal their first pre-season win with a 3-2 victory at Emirates Stadium.
Pepe, who’s Arsenal’s second-most costly signing after his ill-fated £72 million transfer from Good in 2019, siezed on slack defending to fireside within the Sixteenth-minute opener from shut vary after Pape Gueye shot in opposition to a publish.
Karl Etta Eyong struck from related proximity 17 minutes later after David Raya denied Gerard Moreno, however Christian Norgaard headed in Gabriel Martinelli’s nook earlier than the break.
Lo huele. Lo busca. Lo tiene. Etta Eyong y su idilio con el gol. 👽 pic.twitter.com/qrWqQpxBP9
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) August 6, 2025
The hosts dominated the beginning of the second half and examined goalkeeper Luis Junior twice in fast succession by way of fierce pictures from Ethan Nwaneri and Viktor Gyokeres on his first begin for the membership, just for Danjuma to cost on to Santi Comesana’s by way of ball on the break, enter the field and rifle previous Raya within the 68th minute.
Martin Odegaard lowered the deficit to at least one with 14 minutes remaining, changing a penalty received by the short toes of 15-year-old attacking midfielder Max Dowman, who has been one of the crucial spectacular performers throughout Arsenal’s pre-season.
Gabriel then missed an opportunity to win the following penalty shootout for Arsenal when Diego Conde tipped the defender’s try in opposition to the crossbar earlier than the substitute goalkeeper denied new signing Noni Madueke in sudden demise to seal a second victory of the night for the Yellow Submarine.
Con mucho veneno.
Att: Danjuma 🐍 pic.twitter.com/c8cKM3W1dM— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) August 6, 2025
Arsenal vs Villarreal: Defeat for Gunners
Villarreal had by no means scored in three earlier visits to Arsenal however Pepe gave Myles Lewis-Skelly a torrid time early on and Jakub Kiwior was culpable for the primary objective by dallying at point-blank vary because the winger pounced.
Norgaard – a £15m signing from Brentford in July – supplied a measure of much-needed reduction for the Premier League facet after these early targets quietened the house crowd, opening his account with a free header within the thirty sixth minute on the again publish.
New defender Cristhian Mosquera and Gabriel had been left trailing by the velocity of Villarreal’s counter-attack for his or her third and Sergi Cardona was a persistent catalyst for Villarreal together with his velocity, trickery and crossing means from the left.
Odegaard, Declan Rice and Oleksandr Zinchenko scored for Arsenal within the shootout however Mikel Merino shot properly large after ready for Diego Conde to maneuver.
Alberto Moleiro, Danjuma, Comesana and Pau Cabanes scored penalties for Villarreal, whereas former Arsenal mortgage signing Denis Suarez’s effort went comfortably large and Jean Valou hit the crossbar.
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Arsenal workforce vs Villarreal
Arsenal handed a begin to Gyokeres, who joined from Sporting in July for a price that would rise to £64 million and did properly to check Villarreal’s beginning goalkeeper, Luiz Junior, from a decent angle after being performed in by Mikel Merino.
One other new striker, Noni Madueke, was on the bench after lacking Arsenal’s Asia tour whereas recovering from Chelsea’s marketing campaign on the Membership World Cup in June and July.
Gabriel and Jurrien Timber had been out injured, whereas fellow defender Riccardo Calafiori was absent after lacking the 1-0 defeat to Spurs in Hong Kong final Thursday with a knee damage.
Ahead Leandro Trossard was not risked after limping off in that recreation.
Athletic Bilbao additionally go to Arsenal on Saturday (17:00 BST / 12:00 ET / 09:00 PT) and Arteta mentioned he had been anticipating high-level encounters with the LaLiga golf equipment.
“Villarreal are taking part in on the highest stage and have a supervisor in Marcelino who likes to play a really particular sort of system and formation that we’ll discover within the Premier League this season,” predicted the Spaniard.
“Taking part in in opposition to Spanish opposition would require different issues from us as properly and I count on these to be actually good video games.
“Once we organize these pre-season matches, I all the time take a look at how the supervisor units up his groups, how they coach their workforce, the sort of gamers they’ve, how they prepare completely different phases of play in opposition to completely different blocks.
“We’ve got an excellent combination this pre-season. The data and expertise that we achieve from these video games all goes into our ‘database’ to assist us all through the season. It helps for the way in which we’ve to evolve our recreation fashions.
“Every recreation goes to demand one thing from you bodily and [in terms of] the areas you need to assault or defend, and other ways [opponents] can play of their build-up as properly.
“So we’ve to nail that and enhance that. Taking part in in opposition to Villarreal will assist, so it’s a superb recreation for us.”
Arsenal beginning XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Merino, Nwaneri, Saka, Martinelli, Gyokeres
Arsenal substitutes: Arrizabalaga, Setford, Timber, Gabriel, Mosquera, Zinchenko, Lokonga, Zubimendi, Odegaard, Madueke, Rice, Dowman, Harriman-Annous
Villarreal workforce vs Arsenal
Willy Kambwala was out for Villarreal with a left hamstring damage the French-Congolese defender sustained throughout their pleasant in opposition to Genoa on July 31.
Cape Verdean defender Logan Costa had surgical procedure on Tuesday for an entire rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, struggling the damage throughout their pre-season opener in opposition to FC Basel on July 19.
Proper-back Santiago Mourino, who made his debut within the 1-1 draw at Leeds United on Saturday, stored his place.
Thomas Partey is anticipated to signal for Villarreal this week however the former Arsenal midfielder, who will seem at Westminster magistrates courtroom on Wednesdayafter being charged with 5 counts of rape and one among sexual assault, wasn’t on board in time for a return to the Emirates Stadium.
Villarreal had been no strangers to the Emirates Stadium, though they’d failed to attain on their three earlier visits.
Kolo Toure’s Forty first-minute opener at dwelling for Arsenal proved the one objective of the tie within the 2005/06 Champions League semi-finals, with Riquelme lacking a late penalty for Villarreal within the return leg on the Estadio El Madrigal.
The groups met once more in London a quarter-final tie poised at 1-1 after the primary leg in 2009, just for Arsenal to cruise by way of with a 3-0 win.
Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie scored on that event, and Villarreal are unbeaten within the two encounters between the golf equipment since then.
Below former Arsenal supervisor Unai Emery, Villarreal received the primary leg 2-1 at dwelling in opposition to Arteta’s workforce within the 2020/21 Europa League semi-finals, Manu Trigueros and Raul Albiol scoring earlier than Pepe’s late reply.
The second leg completed 0-0, sending the Yellow Submarine by way of to a ultimate they received 11-10 on penalties in opposition to Manchester United following a 1-1 attract Gdansk.
Villarreal beginning XI: Junior, Mourino, Marin, Foyth, Cardona, Gueye, Moleiro, Parejo, Pepe, Eyong, Moreno
Villarreal substitutes: Gomez, Conde, Navarro, Suarez, Danjuma, Altimira, Comesana, Buchanan, Pedraza, Valou, Cabanes
When does Arsenal’s 2025/26 Premier League season start?
The first round of Premier League matches in 2025/26 will probably be on the weekend of August 16 2025, together with Arsenal’s journey to Manchester United on Sunday, August 17 at 16:30 BST.
The sport in opposition to the 2024/25 Europa League finalists is being proven stay within the UK on Sky Sports activities Premier League, Extremely and Principal Occasion.
The final spherical of matches this season will all begin on the similar time on Could 24 2026. No rounds will happen inside 60 hours of one another and there will probably be no fixture on December 24.
When does Villarreal’s 2025/26 LaLiga season begin?
Having certified for the Champions League by ending fifth final season, Villarreal begin their 2025/26 marketing campaign at dwelling to Oviedo on August 15 (20:30 BST / 15:30 ET / 12:30 PT).
Their guests had been promoted by way of the play-offs after coming third within the Segunda Division.
