Arsenal 1 – 0 AC Milan – Match Report

Bukayo Saka scored a second-half goal to give us a deserved win in the opening pre-season friendly of our Asia Tour.

The winger latched onto a delicious Jakub Kiwior cross to score the only goal of the game, in which three of our summer signings all got their first run-out in our colours.

Early dominance

After The Angel rang out around the stadium, we got the game underway – playing in front of our passionate Singapore supporters for the first time since 2018, when we saw off Paris Saint-Germain 5-1 here in the National Stadium.

We started positively with Saka looking lively on the right wing, linking up well with Ben White. But it was Ethan Nwaneri who had our first real chance, receiving the ball just outside the area on the half-turn from Christian Norgaard’s pass. With one touch, he deceived his marker, and with his next he flashed a low left-footed shot towards the bottom corner, where the diving Pietro Terracciano made a great save.

The closest the Italians came in the opening half was when Alexis Saelemaekers blazed over from the edge of the area.

We dominated the first half in terms of possession and territory, but couldn’t convert that into clear-cut chances. In stoppage time Riccardo Calafiori saw his looping header cleared off the line, and White’s shot on the rebound was charged down.

Saka wins it

Mikel Arteta brought on two more of his summer signings at the break. Norgaard was replaced by Martin Zubimendi in midfield, while Kepa Arrizabalaga came on for David Raya in goal.

However it was another of the subs, Kiwior, who created the opening goal. His first time cross swung into the box beat everyone, and found Saka at the far post to calmly break the deadlock with a left-foot finish into the ground.

With 25 minutes left, the boss brought on four more subs, including 15-year-olds Max Dowman and Marli Salmon – both making their non-competitive debuts. Dowman wasted no time in getting involved. Playing on the right wing, he had one darting run across the box soon after coming on, then shortly afterwards he swapped passes with Martin Odegaard and shot just wide.

We continued to boss proceedings, with Kepa enjoying a quiet debut. However, 20-year-old Lorenzo Torriani in the Milan posts was superb, making good saves to deny Mikel Merino, Leandro Trossard and Reiss Nelson. The latter almost squeezed home a second late on, but we had done enough to get the friendly programme off to a winning start.

Penalty shootout

After the game, the teams took part in a penalty shootout, which finished 2-2 after five kicks each with Zubimendi and Merino netting for us, while Kepa made three good saves all to his left. 

With the shootout in sudden death, Dowman, Trossard and Josh Nichols converted but Milan netted all three of theirs too, and after Marli Salmon failed to hit the target, the Italians triumphed 6-5.

Odegaard (saved) 0-0
Gabbia (scored) 0-1
Zubimendi (scored) 1-1
Colombo (saved) 1-1
Merino (scored) 2-1
Chukwueze (scored) 2-2
Nelson (saved) 2-2
Liberali (saved) 2-2
Kiwior (saved)   2-2
Okafor (saved) 2-2
Dowman (scored) 3-2
Magni (scored) 3-3
Trossard (scored) 4-3
Terracciano (scored) 4-4
Nichols (scored) 5-4
Dutu (scored) 5-5
Salmon (missed) 5-5
Comotto (scored) 6-5

What’s next

Our second game of our 2025 Asia Tour is back here in the Singapore National Stadium on Sunday at 7.30pm local time (12.30pm UK time) against fellow Premier League side Newcastle United. We conclude the tour on Thursday, July 31 against Tottenham Hotspur in Hong Kong. 

We then have home friendlies against Villarreal and Athletic Club at Emirates Stadium before the real action kicks off against Manchester United on the opening week of the 2025/26 Premier League season. Remember you can watch all of our pre-season friendlies live on Arsenal.com.

Line-up

Arsenal: Raya (Arrizabalaga 46), White (Nichols 66), Saliba (Salmon 66), Calafiori (Kiwior 46), Zinchenko (Lewis-Skelly 46), Norgaard (Zubimendi 46), Rice (Merino 66), Nwaneri (Odegaard 46), Martinelli (Trossard 46), Saka (Dowman 66), Havertz (Nelson 78).

Subs not used: Setford, Rojas-Fedorushchenko, Copley, Lokonga, Nelson, Harriman-Annous.
 

What’s next

Our second game of our 2025 Asia Tour is back here in the Singapore National Stadium on Sunday at 7.30pm local time (12.30pm UK time) against fellow Premier League side Newcastle United. We conclude the tour on Thursday, July 31 against Tottenham Hotspur in Hong Kong. 

We then have home friendlies against Villarreal and Athletic Club at Emirates Stadium before the real action kicks off against Manchester United on the opening week of the 2025/26 Premier League season. Remember you can watch all of our pre-season friendlies live on Arsenal.com.