The wonderfully named Hungarian side met Arsenal in Hungary as the Gunners continued to build up fitness and continued their match preparations after making a short trip from their Austrian base. Arsene Wenger had no favourites as he picked those who impressed against Barnet, and those in need of match fitness.
An interesting line-up was chosen with the Hoyte brothers paired up at centre-back. But there was no doubt that the majority of Arsenal interest fell upon Carlos Vela, who finally made his debut after loan spells at Salamanca and Osasuna. The impressive Wilshere was handed a starting berth on the left and no doubt was looking to fast-track his route into the first team. Walcott was placed out wide as Vela partnered Bendtner up front. On the bench, the rugged Simpson, who had a key role in the turnaround against Barnet, bagging a goal and an assist, was rewarded with a place on the bench.
Bendtner won the ball on the left and crossed for Vela, who failed to control but the ball fell to Denilson, who shot against the bar. The Dane was involved in the early stages but seemed to have a heavy touch and a lack of mobility as he eased himself into match sharpness. Vela then played in Walcott, who failed to execute his shot as another chance went. Clinical finishing is a must for next season as the usual chances were created.
Denilson, who acknowledged that 2008/09 will be a key one for him, started confidently alongside Ramsey, who seemed to have slotted in with great ease, looking like he had been at the club for years. The Welshman was set up by his Brazilian partner to shot from distance, but his effort was blocked and landed for a corner.
At the back, Gavin Hoyte seemed quite disturbed by any ball that was hopefully played in, completely opposite to the calm Sagna. The young defender grew into the game, making a key interception as the Haladas striker closed in. The number 17 Simon found space on the left flank as the ball ricocheted off Walcott. Kenesei then played in the same man but Sagna read the danger and covered the inexperienced Hoyte brothers.
The former Auxerre man will be hugely important in this upcoming season, with Justin Hoyte not looking positionally sound as a central defender or as a full-back. The older brother lost Kenesei who ran in and lifted the ball over Almunia to give the Hungarians the lead. Gavin Hoyte tried to cover and seemed to hook the ball off the line but the referee gave it in front of the 13,000 sell-out crowd at the Haladas VSE Stadium. Like at Underhill, Arsenal were behind once more. It was this kind of mistake that lost Arsenal points in the run-in last year and they must improve on this kind of direct ball if they are to challenge once more.
In a bid to make amends for his error, Justin Hoyte went up field and found himself a few yards from the net but sliced his kick from the corner in a very poor effort. Clichy, once more captaining the side, showed great energy in supporting the attacks but his end product was lacking. A early cross reached only the arms of the goalkeeper, while when he was played in by Bendtner, he shot into the side netting, when squaring for a team-mate could have resulted in a equalizer. Alumnia was forced into a fine save, as the defenders in front of him were lax in their concentration, allowing a dangerous cross in.
The Spanish stopper blocked the effort from the opposition striker as Haladas got more into the game. Wilshere hit a volley over from the left side of the box in a competitive tempo from the hosts. But the Gunners weren’t behind for long as Bendtner controlled a difficult long ball and played in Walcott with a fine pass to finish with aplomb, as the ball rolled in off the post. Bendtner then suffered a knock as the first half ended in an intriguing contest. Randall, Traore, Lansbury, Almunia came on for Vela, Ramsey, Hoyte and Mannone at the start of the second half, as several changes disrupted the flow of the game, as it became more cage in the opening exchanges of the second 45 minutes.
Randall, who had a goal wrongly disallowed versus Sunderland, on the final day of the season, had an early effort in the second half blaze just over the bar. The Hungarians, dressed in white shirts and black shorts, were still threatening to break the deadlock once more but when the chance came, it was Traore, who covered his centre-back and removed the ball from danger. But the youngsters were by no means being overrun as a curled shot from Lansbury was tipped over by Rozsa, who seemed as eccentric as former Szombathelyi Haladas keeper Gabor Kiraly.
Soon after the 16 year old Jack Wilshere shaped to shoot but crossed for Hoyte who failed to connect. The vision shown by the rookie at such a young age was encouraging. He certainly has great footballing intelligence, with Arsenal TV analyser Stewart Robson even suggesting he has better vision than Walcott currently. Nicklas Bendtner, much more impressive than against Barnet, made a driving run past a number of players. He played in Theo whose shot was blocked. The Dane seemed to be a slow starter who needs games to get into his stride, unlike Clichy and Sagna, who appear to have reached a high level in just 135 minutes of matches.
Soon after Jay Simpson, Francis Coquelin came on for Wilshere and Bendtner as the side found a whole new look. The new French defensive midfielder showed his physical prowess by closing down quickly, as he tried to set a higher tempo by pressing higher up the pitch, a mantra echoed by Perry Groves in commentary. Randall too, often playing second fiddle to Merida in the reserves last season, was playing in a attacking role and tried to dictate play, with many probing passes and a few shots, both of which were off target.
Peter Toth was causing Hoyte and Lansbury problems down the Arsenal right flank, with driving runs from deep buying his team space and even a chance to nick the win. The physical Hungarians were worthy of a point as they battled harder than a young Arsenal side, made up predominantly of reserves. Coquelin was closing down impressively and won the ball for Simpson to dribble and win a free kick, which Clichy whipped wide. Sagna showed why he is the best right-back in England, as he was alert to the danger after Clichy slipped, the man with the braided hair ran across to cover the cross, whilst also showing his versatility, by playing at centre-back.
Henri Lansbury then made a run down the right, beating one man and he went to ground but was denied a penalty after a strong, but fair challenge from his Hungarian marker. Coquelin made a driving run and pulled back for Simpson to shoot but his effort was blocked, as was Walcott’s follow up. The game became more stretched towards the end as both sides went for the win. Theo Walcott made a fine turn away from his man and set up Traore for the cross but the ball was met by no-one as the game ended at 1-1. This game was a good physical work-out and contest for the younger players. Both the first and second half sides had decent performances which can be seen as general improvements on the first game at Barnet.
Next up is a game against a Burgenland XI, followed by a big test against Stuttgart in their new stadium. As captain Clichy stated in a post match interview, ‘the main objective is fitness’, with integration of new signings also an aim for Arsenal. It was good to see a number of the younger players and obviously Carlos Vela’s debut. There are six days until the next game, and one should expect to see the first team then.
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