Theo Walcott, well rested. Pic via Daily Mail.
Barnet 0
Arsenal 4: Arshavin 2, Simpson 16, 45, Nasri 75
Arsenal's annual pre-season opener at nearby Barnet started with a bang and progressed comfortably as a fairly strong Gunners line-up coasted to a 4-0 win at Underhill Stadium.
A number of first team players started, including Laurent Koscielny, who started at center back as he made his Arsenal debut. But it was Tomas Rosicky and Andrei Arshavin combined to send the diminutive Russian in alone on goal; Arshavin maneuvered around Barnet keeper Jake Cole to open the scoring after just 90 seconds of play. Jack Wilshere set up the next two goals for reserve striker Jay Simpson, whose brace gave Arsenal a 3-0 lead at the break.
Marouane Chamakh made his debut in red and white in the second half, but had a fairly quiet first 45 minutes with the team. Arsenal's offense attack cooled in the second, despite the additions of Chamakh, Theo Walcott, and Samir Nasri. Nasri, however, did add to the scoring in the 75th, taking advantage of a defensive mistake by the Bees.
Despite being named in the 22-man roster, both Manuel Almunia and Eduardo did not appear. This does not seem to be a good sign for either's future in North London. In goal, Lukasz Fabianski started and played the first half, while Vito Mannone and Wojciech Szczesny shared the second half. Barnet had only one shot on target.
Arsenal will now head to their pre-season training camp in Austria and will play Sturm Graz on Wednesday and Neusiedl 1919 a week later before returning home for the Emirates Cup.
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