Arsenal 2-3 Borussia Dortmund: Mikel Arteta's side defend poorly but Christos Tzolis shines as Gunners lose Emirates Cup
Report as Arsenal lost 3-2 against Borussia Dortmund to suffer back-to-back pre-season losses; Dortmund were 2-0 up at half-time thanks to Samuele Inacio and Konstantinos Karetsas; Joane Gadou made it 3-1 after half-time; Ethan Nwaneri and Viktor Gyokeres pulled goals back for Arsenal
Sunday 9 August 2026 18:37, UK
Arsenal produced more comical defending in pre-season as Borussia Dortmund won 3-2 in north London to win the Emirates Cup.
After Mikel Arteta said Arsenal's defending in Wednesday's defeat to Real Betis was "below the standard", the Gunners found themselves in trouble again as they were 2-0 down at the break thanks to goals from Samuele Inacio and 18-year-old wonderkid Konstantinos Karetsas.
Arsenal had plenty of chances throughout - with the wasteful Viktor Gyokeres hitting the bar in the first half - and while Ethan Nwaneri pulled one back after good work from Christos Tzolis, a calamitous corner allowed Joane Gadou to make it 3-1.
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Tzolis then capped off a promising performance by winning a penalty which Gyokeres converted. But with seven days to go until their Community Shield game with Man City in Cardiff, Arteta has some holes to fix.
Arsenal welcomed new signing Bruno Guimaraes onto the Emirates pitch before kick-off - he is needed sooner rather than later.
The key moments from the Emirates Stadium...
7: GOAL! Inacio gives Dortmund the lead after being played through in the box by Lukas Nmecha.
15: NO PENALTY! Odegaard breaks through on goal and is brought down. Referee Chris Kavanagh points to the spot then changes his mind by giving a free-kick on the edge of the box, which Gyokeres fires over.
26: OFF THE BAR! Gyokeres strikes the bar after Odegaard's pass freed Dowman on the right wing.
29: GOAL! Karetsas doubles Dortmund's lead after Riccardo Calafiori gave the ball away on the halfway line, which sparked a solo run.
43: TWO CHANCES! Tzolis produces two glorious free-kicks in the space of four minutes, but Gabriel nods the first one over and Havertz heads straight at the goalkeeper.
55: GOAL! Nwaneri sweeps home to pull one back after good work from Tzolis, who provided the assist down the left.
59: GOAL! Comical Arsenal defending at a corner sees Gadou score a third for Dortmund, after Illan Meslier saved when Calafiori could not clear his lines.
69: GOAL! Gyokeres pulls one back from the penalty spot after livewire Tzolis is fouled by Jobe Bellingham.
90+4: GOAL DISALLOWED! Martinelli thinks he has equalised but is caught offside from a short corner.
Arteta: We conceded poor goals
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta:
"We lost the game, obviously not happy about it. Things obviously have to be improved. Certain players need to get more minutes and rhythm, which is going to be really helpful.
"It has to hurt, whether it is a friendly match, a test or whatever you want to call it. But yeah, we know where we are. We know that we are missing still a lot of players and some players that haven't had enough training. And yeah, sometimes it [losing] is good.
"We conceded some poor goals the other day, some poor goals today, in the way we competed, especially. But that's a very collective responsibility. So, we need to improve with the players that we have. And we want to improve, for sure we will."
Analysis: Is Arsenal's defending a concern?
Sky Sports' Sam Blitz at the Emirates Stadium:
Since December 2023, Arsenal had conceded three goals in a match only once.
That was the 3-2 loss to Manchester United in January of this year, which ended a 121-match run without letting in three goals.
Now they have conceded three in back-to-back pre-season friendlies. The last time they conceded three goals in consecutive games came in April 2023, when they drew 3-3 to Southampton and then lost 4-1 in a title decider with Man City.
Yes, this is pre-season. Yes, there are still eight first-team players to come back and shore up the midfield, including Declan Rice and new signing Bruno Guimaraes.
But there are concerning habits at the moment. Arsenal looked pretty open defensively while playing their first-choice back four that they have available.
William Saliba's injury looks pretty costly right now, while Jurrien Timber is still weeks away from returning from his long-term groin issue.
As a result of that, the Arsenal defence that normally give away so little look so open. From the six goals they conceded against Real Betis and Borussia Dortmund, three of them came from shots outside the box, two of them came from defensive corners.
So with all the talk about whether Arsenal need a new left winger, should defensive cover for Saliba be higher on the shortlist?
The club have shown interest in Ezri Konsa and an extraordinary move for Spurs captain Cristian Romero, which hints Arteta believes some defensive reinforcements are required too.
It's no need to panic for Arsenal. On Monday, Arteta will work with a full Gunners squad for the first time when all the World Cup winners and England players return.
There were also some positives against Dortmund with Christos Tzolis looking sharp, Martin Odegaard creating lots of open play chances - while Max Dowman and Ethan Nwaneri both stood up once again.
But time is ticking towards that Community Shield with Manchester City, which will set the tone for the campaign ahead.
Arsenal's pre-season so far...
July 25: Arsenal 3-0 MK Dons - Arsenal training ground
August 1: Girona 1-4 Arsenal - Girona
August 5: Arsenal 1-3 Real Betis - Dublin
August 9: Arsenal 2-3 Borussia Dortmund
August 12: Arsenal vs Como - Emirates Stadium, 7.30pm
August 16: Community Shield - Arsenal vs Man City, Cardiff, 3pm
