Defensive worries and a lack of options: Five takeaways as Arsenal lose pre-season friendly to Dortmund

Arsenal were beaten 3-2 by Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates Stadium in their latest pre-season outing.

Two goals in the first half an hour stunned Arsenal, who have won the Emirates Cup trophy for the last four years on the spin but have lost out this year.

Arsenal did get one back through Ethan Nwaneri, before Jaone Gadou fired the German side two goals ahead once more. A Gyokeres penalty reduced the deficit to one again, but it was not enough for Arsenal to take home the trophy.

Arsenal thought they had equalised in the final minute of the match when Gabriel Martinelli fired home, but the flag was up for offside.

Here are five of the main takeaways from the match…

Arsenal’s defensive struggles

After conceding three against Real Betis in Ireland last week, Gabriel Magalhaes’ name back in the starting 11 was a welcome change to the side.

However, it did not seem like much had changed as Samuele Inacio had Dortmund ahead just six minutes in. Excellent play from Felix Nmecha and Fabio Silva worked the ball in behind Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel on the left-hand side of the box, allowing Inacio to stroke home.

The goals did not stop there for Dortmund.

Konstantino Keretsas doubled Dortmund’s lead before the half-hour mark with an excellent strike from just inside the box. A different scorer for Dortmund this time, but the same side of the Arsenal defence.

Dortmund added a third just minutes after Nwaneri pulled one back for Arteta’s side. Gadou fired home from a corner.

The best defence in the Premier League last season will be concerned with how often they have been breached in pre-season.

Arsenal in need of reinforcements?

Arsenal’s strength in depth has been commended, but without many of their key players available for selection they looked very stretched.

Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and David Raya are just some of the Arsenal stars that have not yet returned from their holidays after the World Cup, and their absence was not missed.

Max Dowman and Nwaneri both put in good performances, but lacked the cutting edge that Saka and others provide in attack. Cristhian Mosquera and Ben White both did not make any rash errors during the game, but again, lacked the calmness that Jurrien Timber and William Saliba provided Arsenal for so long.

With Timber and Saliba’s return dates currently unknown and several stars perhaps needing time to get up to speed early on in the season, Arsenal may need to dip into the transfer market again.

Tzolis’ good start to life at Arsenal

Following on from a goal against Girona and an assist against Betis, Tzolis continued to impress in Arsenal colours.

For the 18th club match in a row (including matches for Club Brugge), the Greek registered a goal involvement, this time setting up Ethan Nwaneri for a simple finish.

With Rice not yet back from his holidays after the World Cup, Tzolis was on free-kick duty, yet it felt like the Englishman was still taking them given the quality of delivery.

Gabriel and Kai Havertz were the main offenders of missing huge chances from Tzolis’ crosses into the area.

Positive signs from Gyokeres

Despite not finding the net early on, Gyokeres got on the end of several chances and was the main cause of most of the problems Arsenal caused Dortmund during the match

The Swede was a threat throughout, most notably seeing a strike rattle the crossbar from a tight angle after Max Dowman had slipped him in behind.

Although he missed chances throughout the game, the Swede showed the Arsenal fans that he can finish when he passed his penalty in the corner with 20 minutes to go. Gyokeres demonstrated the danger he can pose to any side.

It’s only pre-season

As already mentioned, Arsenal still have players to return to the squad and the ones that were out there are not yet fully match fit, with the Premier League season still two weeks away.

Arsenal proved last season that they are one of the best teams in the world as they won the league and reached the Champions League final. There should not be any major panic.