Arsenal 3 - Manchester City 1

Arsenal concluded their pre-season by sinking Manchester City by three-goals-to-one in Helsinki, Finland.

Coming off the back of an embarrassing Emirates Cup defeat, Wenger was faced with the task of proving that his current side can push for trophies without the arrival of any new signings. With many Arsenal fans surely expecting nothing more than a draw from the match they were pleasantly surprised when their side comfortably triumphed against their fellow Premier League counterparts.

With both sides opting to start with regular first team individuals there was no hiding the intention that both managers meant business. It was Manchester City who started the match in a commanding fashion but it was the Gunners who found themselves one up, after Aaron Ramsey produced a spectacular through-ball which was met by Theo Walcott who had already done the difficult work of getting behind the City back four – having done so the Englishman simply thumped the ball home.

Although Arsenal was the team leading, Manchester City continued to press, causing Arsenal to defend for much of the first half. As the half progressed both sides found themselves sharing the possession but it was City who were making the most of theirs – numerous surging runs into the box were picked off one-by-one by the formidable Arsenal centreback pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker.

Wenger decided to bring on a trio of subs at the beginning of the first half with Cazorla and Giroud both being introduced. A rather ironic moment occurred moments into the second half, when Theo Walcott was seen sprinting down the line after a pacey through-ball but was running too fast to stop – running past the advertising boards and halting his charge on the athletics track that surrounds the Finnish Olympic Stadium – a funny reminder of the forwards’ running abilities.

Then, just moments after, it was Walcott who was involved in Arsenal’s second when he slid through Aaron Ramsey, who slotted the ball past a flailing Joe Hart to double Arsenal’s lead.

With Arsenal in cruise control it wasn’t long before they grabbed their third – Olivier Giroud, from 25 yards out, taking a touch to his right before dispatching a wonderful lob over the helpless Joe Hart.

Half an hour remained of play and Wenger allowed Sebastian Perez, Arsenal’s recent trialist, twenty minutes to prove his potential. The young Columbian was soon to pick up his first yellow card in an Arsenal shirt after coming on – perhaps showing his competitive side.

Zelalem, the promising talent that many fans have had their eyes firmly fixated on during pre-season, was also substituted on, in place of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

After Wenger had allowed the youngsters from the bench to take to the field of play during the second half it came to no surprise when Manchester City eventually capitalised on a slightly inexperienced Arsenal side – in the 79th minute, Alvaro Negredo – City’s new signing, grabbed a mere consolation goal for the Blues – coolly slotting a ball underneath Fabianski.

Nevertheless, Arsenal held out and secured a defensively convincing 3-1 victory that now leaves many Arsenal fans clueless about what they can expect from their team in the upcoming season.

After losing 2-1 to Galatasaray and now winning 3-1 against a well-respected Manchester City side, who knows what will happen when Arsenal initiate their league campaign in next week’s match against Aston Villa.