Nurnberg 1-1 Arsenal: Bukayo Saka’s venomous effort cancelled out by goalkeeping blunder

Arsenal were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw against German second division side FC Nurnberg in the first game of their pre-season campaign.

The Gunners returned to action in perhaps not the start that Mikel Arteta would have wanted following the tough end to last year’s Premier League campaign. Despite being much the stronger team throughout the game, the London side were careless in possession, notably giving the ball away for Nurnberg’s equaliser. 

In any event, Arsenal fans will be relieved to see the return of William Saliba, his first appearance since suffering a back injury that has kept him out of the side since March. 

Equally, new signing Kai Havertz made his first appearance in a red shirt coming on in the second half for Reiss Nelson, and while he failed to get on the scoresheet, looked comfortable in the Arsenal system. 

Bukayo Saka got back to where he left off last season, scoring a trademark goal that was reminiscent of his strike against Manchester United during the Gunners’ dramatic 3-2 win last season.

Collecting the ball on the edge of the box, the forward turned on to his left foot before unleashing a venomous yet precise shot into the bottom-left corner of the goal. 

Worryingly for the Arsenal bench, Saka took a nasty fall during the first half, and looked to be in some discomfort, landing on his lower back. He was okay to continue, but it certainly seemed a sore one for the winger, who was seen on the ground clutching his lower back. 

Saliba, meanwhile managed 46 minutes and looked very settled on his return helping the Gunners build nicely from the back.   

Ben White was another who impressed in the first-half, flowing up and down the right wing to keep Nurnberg on their toes. He played in some smart crosses but the Bundesliga 2 side dealt with them well. 

Leandro Trossard and Reiss Nelson interchanged nicely up top too, with both causing problems for the opposition defence. 

At half-time both sides made several changes, with Aaron Ramsdale coming off for Karl Hein for the Gunners, Gabriel Jesus would come on too for Saka and Thomas Partey would also make way for Jorginho. 

After a slow start to the second half, Jesus had the first chance for the gunners, skirting away from the Nurnberg defenders in acres of space to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper but sent his shot wide of the goal. 

But in bizarre circumstances, Arsenal allowed Nurnberg to equalise. With Hein collecting the ball outside his penalty area, instead of clearing long, he passed the ball straight to a Kanji Okunuki, who rolled the ball past the Gunners goalie to bring his side level.

The goal certainly gave the German outfit some more energy, advancing upfield to mount several attacks late on, with Arsenal holding out on several occasions. 

Mats Daehli’s chance was perhaps came closest, belting a thumping strike from over 30-yards out at the Gunners goal. Hein was on hand to parry the ball away, but deflected the ball back into a group of oncoming Nurnberg attackers, who pounced on the opportunity, hitting their rebound onto the cross-bar, with Arsenal narrowly surviving the scare. 

The Gunners were careless in possession towards the end of the match, giving the ball away again to the German side on several occasions with the German second division side pressing on the Gunners, again breaking into the penalty area before Jens Castrop struck his ball over the bar. 

Folarin Balogun could have made it 2-1 in the dying embers of the match, breaking through the Nurnberg defence, before rounding the goalkeeper, doing the hard work before missing a clear chance, hitting his shot into the side netting. 

Arsenal’s next pre-season match comes next Thursday against the MLS All Stars before they take on Manchester United and Barcelona before the end of July.