An Arsenal XI played out a 4-0 behind-closed-doors friendly defeat to Queens Park Rangers at the TSG Elite Training & Performance Centre on Thursday.
Given the opportunity to get more game time Takehiro Tomiyasu and Thomas Partey both started, with our side predominantly featuring under-21s players against a strong QPR outfit.
It was Partey who had the first chance of the game, his shot too soft to trouble Joe Walsh after receiving it from Amario Cozier-Duberry on the right.
QPR went up the other end immediately, Albert Adomah crossing for Michael Frey to head wide at the far post.
Frey won the ball in a dangerous area before Elijah Dixon-Bonner struck over the bar from distance, and Ovie Ejeheri was on hand to rush off his line and make an important save to deny Adomah moments later.
But, in the 30th minute, it was Adomah’s cross that was met by Frey and, with the help of a deflection off of Taylor Foran, the ball crossed the line for 1-0 to the home side.
Adomah and Frey linked up again two minutes later, but this time Foran got in the way to concede a QPR corner, which was headed over by Steve Cook.
We searched for an equaliser as Partey clipped the ball over the top for Jimi Gower, the latter shooting over the bar with a left-footed volley.
Ejeheri made another great save from close range against Ilias Chair to keep the score at 1-0 going into the half-time break.
We made two substitutions at half-time, Elian Quesada-Thorn and Alexei Rojas coming on for Tomiyasu and Ejeheri respectively.
QPR started the second half brightly, Reggie Cannon’s cross being bounced just over the bar by Frey. The home side then made it 2-0, Frey poking the ball into the roof of the net from Larkeche’s cross.
It was 3-0 with half an hour remaining as Lucas Andersen’s cross reached Dixon-Bonner, who tucked the ball into the bottom right corner.
Partey was replaced in the 64th minute alongside Josh Nichols, Cozier-Duberry, Osman Kamara, and Gower, who made way for Harrison Dudziak, Ismail Oulad M’Hand, Michal Rosiak, Mauro Bandeira and Ismael Kabia.
Frey shot straight at Rojas with 20 minutes remaining but QPR made it 4-0 in the 88th minute as Ziyad Larkeche tucked the ball past our goalkeeper after receiving it from Andersen.
Arsenal: Ejeheri (Rojas 46), Nichols (Dudziak 64), Robinson, Foran, Tomiyasu (Quesada-Thorn 46), Partey (Kabia 64), Lewis-Skelly, Gower (Bandeira 64), Cozier-Duberry (Oulad M’Hand 64), Butler-Oyedeji, Kamara (Rosiak 64).
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
