Arsenal 2-3 Villarreal: Player ratings as Gunners troubled by familiar faces

Arsenal suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Villarreal in a friendly at the Emirates Stadium to continue their recent losing form in pre-season.

In his side's first home game of pre-season, Mikel Arteta fielded a mixed strength lineup that included Viktor Gyokeres, who was making his maiden start for his new team. Fellow newcomer Christian Norgaard also made his home debut while Bukayo Saka led his side out as captain.

The Gunners started strong, causing trouble for the visitors down both flanks, but it was Villarreal who broke the deadlock. A cross was allowed to bounce around in the box before Arsenal's former record signing Nicolas Pepe poked it into the back of the net.

Now a goal down, Arsenal continued to pressure the Yellow Submarine, but struggled to break through. Despite being under the cosh, Villarreal doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark when a David Raya save fell kindly for Karl Etta Eyong to fire in.

Arsenal hit back instantly to halve the deficit when Gabriel Martinelli's corner found its way to an unmarked Christian Norgaard at the back post to head past Luiz Junior. Despite putting on more pressure, the Gunners went into half-time behind.

The Gunners continued to push for an equaliser after the break and went close twice on the hour mark. Gyokeres made a good run to get on the end of a through ball before firing an effort toward goal, but saw it saved. Mikel Merino then had an attempt denied from the edge of the box.

A flurry of changes just after saw Arsenal's deck shuffled, but the state of play remained the same. They remained the dominant force as they pressured the visitors, but a swift counterattack saw Villarreal restore their two-goal lead through Arnaut Danjuma.

Youngster Max Dowman caused problems off the bench, firing wide before winning a penalty for his side with 15 minutes to play. Captain Martin Odegaard calmly dispatched the resulting spot kick to bring his team back into the game.

As the game drew to a close, Arsenal continued to push for the leveller with Dowman remaining the main threat down the right side. However, they couldn't pull themselves back into the tie, ultimately losing 3-2.

In typical modern pre-season fashion, a penalty shootout followed the game despite Villarreal securing victory. The Gunners' bad luck continued as they lost the spot kick lottery following misses from Merino, Gabriel and debutant Noni Madueke.

Here are the Arsenal player ratings from their disappointing defeat to Villarreal.

Arsenal 2-3 Villarreal player ratings

Goalkeeper & Defenders

David Raya (GK) - 6.5/10 - Spilled a cross into the area, resulting in Pepe scoring the opener. He made a great save to deny Villarreal a second, but couldn't keep out the rebound. Brought off with half hour remaining.

Ben White (RB) - 7/10 - Looked to get forward when he good and made some good runs on the overlap. Linked up with Saka well and put some crosses into the box. Taken off at half-time.

William Saliba (CB) - 6.5/10 - Struggled to keep up with Parejo as he raced down the left side ahead of crossing in for the second goal. Not much he could do about either goal however. Replaced 15 minutes into the second half.

Jakub Kiwior (CB) - 6/10 - Failed to clear the ball after Raya's save, allowing Pepe to fire in from close range. Looked more solid in the second half before being brought off just after 60 minutes.

Myles Lewis-Skelly (LB) - 6.5/10 - Could have prevented Pepe from cutting inside in the build-up to the opener and also could have acted quicker to make life a bit more difficult for the Ivorian when he scored. Had a shot blocked at 1-0. Replaced in the late stages.

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