Arsenal vs Manchester City live score and goal updates from the pre-season friendly

That's all folks as Arsenal victory is soured

Arsenal beat Manchester City 3-2 this evening but their victory and the attacking performance that led to it became secondary when Gabriel went down towards the end of the game.

With Mertesacker already ruled out and Koscielny set to miss the season opener next weekend, the loss of Gabriel is a huge blow for the Gunners.

Both teams will have defensive concerns going into the Premier League campaign after they were far too open in this contest.

Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for City against the run of play in the first-half, turning home from a sumptuous Raheem Sterling cross.

But the scores were level just minutes after the break when Alex Iwobi netted from outside the penalty area.

Theo Walcott gave Arsenal the lead after a nice one-two with Alexis Sanchez, before Chuba Akpom took advantage of some calamitous defending to give the Gunners breathing space.

Kelechi Iheanacho headed home for City just two minutes later to make for a nervy ending but Arsenal held on for the victory.

It was an entertaining contest. It was just a shame it ended with Gabriel being forced off in considerable pain.

Player ratings: Manchester City

Willy Caballero 6 - City just never look as assured with him in goal, but did make one smart stop.

Pablo Zabaleta 5 - Not the player of three years ago, struggled against the physical presence of Iwobi.

Fernando 6 - Doesn’t mind the rough stuff and plays out from the back well.

Aleksandar Kolarov 6 - He’s not going to start there against Sunderland next week, is he?

Gael Clichy 5 - Struggled to get to grips with Walcott when he came on.

Fernandinho 7 - Perhaps City’s best player in pre-season, another strong display here.

Fabian Delph 6 - See Coquelin, Francis.

David Silva 6 - Still searching for fitness, but one or two moments of genuine class on a rotten pitch.

Raheem Sterling 7 - A couple of good runs and an excellent delivery for Aguero’s goal.

Nolito 5 - Somewhat subdued display from the Spaniard.

Sergio Aguero 8 - Coming to the boil nicely. Always a threat with his movement, and took his goal effortlessly.

Substitutes

Joe Hart 5 (Caballero 46) - Could do nothing with Iwobi’s goal, but did he go down too easy for Walcott’s?

De Bruyne (Nolito 64), Adarabioyo (Fernando 64), Sagna (Zabaleta 64), Silva (Navas 64), Iheanacho (Aguero 65) Toure (Delph 65), Zinchenko (Fernandinho 79), Tasende (Clichy 79)

Player ratings: Arsenal

Arsenal ended their pre-season schedule in bittersweet fashion as they beat Manchester City but lost defender Gabriel Paulista to a serious-looking injury.

The Gunners went behind after half-an-hour to a Sergio Aguero strike but goals from Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott and Chuba Akpom put Arsene Wenger’s side 3-1 up.

Kelechi Iheanacho scored a late header for City to ensure a nervy ending but Arsenal held on.

However, Wenger will return to London fretting over the fitness of Gabriel after he was stretchered off in stoppage time.

Here is how Mirror Football’s Alex Richards rated the players...

Arsenal

Petr Cech 6 - Little he could do about Aguero’s goal, plus fine second-half save from Navas.

Hector Bellerin 6 - Young Spaniard offers threat going forward and continues to grow defensively.

Gabriel 5 - Brazilian defender struggled to find Aguero and looks a little lost without Koscielny. Stretchered off in stoppage time.

Rob Holding 6 - Young defender stood up to the test in the first period.

Nacho Monreal 6 - Always a steady influence, but should have got closer to Sterling for Aguero’s goal.

Francis Coquelin 6 - Frenchman’s energy is never in question, but needs to take more care with his touch.

Granit Xhaka 6 - Lovely passer but looked a little leaden-footed - needs to add sharpness ahead of Liverpool opener.

Oxlade-Chamberlain 6 - A little more subdued than recent excellent performances, and missed poorly when clean through.

Aaron Ramsey 6 - Playing in an advanced central role, worked well to supplement the attack.

Alex Iwobi 7 - Well-taken goal from the Nigeria international, and caused City problems down the left.

Alexis Sanchez 7 - Not at his sharpest, but caused problems with his energy and drive. Unlucky with excellent free-kick. Set up Walcott.

Substitutes

Walcott 8 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 46) - Teed up Iwobi then scored a brilliant solo effort.MOTM

Chambers 6 (Holding 46) - Solid enough at the heart of defence.

Elneny 7 (Xhaka 46) - Added stability and presence to Arsenal’s midfield.

Cazorla (Ramsey 65), Campbell (Iwobi 70), Debuchy (Bellerin 77), Gibbs (Monreal 77) Akpom (Alexis 80)

Five things we learned: 5, Poor day for Hart

Media reports on Sunday morning claimed Joe Hart’s place in the Manchester City team is under threat, with Guardiola prepared to replace him with Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

And the England stopper didn’t exactly cover himself in glory when he could only palm Alex Iwobi’s effort into the net as City surrendered their lead.

However, he did restore a little bit of pride when he got down early to turn a rasping Theo Walcott drive around the post.

He was helpless to prevent the same player giving Arsenal the lead from close range in the 73rd minute.

But he’ll be disappointed with his role in the Gunners’ third goal, as he spilled the ball and allowed Chuba Akpom to score.

Regardless of his display today, Hart can count himself unlucky if he is replaced by Guardiola this summer, despite his poor performances for England at Euro 2016.

The goalkeeper often shows his best form in City’s biggest matches and Guardiola should start the season with Hart as his first-choice goalkeeper.

Five things we learned: 4, Iwobi's development continues

Alex Iwobi was Arsenal’s breakthrough start last season and he scored his side’s equaliser against City with a low strike from outside the area.

He’s a pacy attacker with an eye for goal but he also has the ability to look up and pick a pass too.

The Nigerian youngster almost sent Theo Walcott through on goal with a neat through ball but good defending from City stopped that from happening.

Iwobi prefers to be deployed on the left side of the attack, which is coincidentally where Alexis Sanchez plays his best football, but Arsene Wenger will be fine adapting his system to fit both players into the team this term.

Five things we learned: 3, Sterling's end product improves

One of the main criticisms levelled at Raheem Sterling at the Euros with England was his poor end product.

The 21-year-old was one of the main scapegoats as the Three Lions exited the tournament in disgrace, as Roy Hodgson was slammed for keeping faith in the youngster.

But he showed signs of improvement here as he provided the assist for Sergio Aguero’s opening goal.

After picking the ball up on the right flank, Sterling manufactured himself a bit of space before sending in a delicious ball for Aguero to neatly tuck home.

Sterling has suffered with confidence issues since joining City last summer, but if Guardiola is capable of keeping the player in a positive mindset, we could soon see Sterling return to the form which saw him dubbed English football’s brightest prospect just two years ago.

Five things we learned: 2, Pep's ideas need time

Like Rome, the Pep Guardiola revolution will not be built in a day.

City looked to play possession football here, but were often let down by the haphazard nature of their passing, which caused them problems when they looked to build from the back.

Aleksandr Kolarov looked particularly uncomfortable in the first-half, when he held on to the ball for far too long and almost cost his team a goal after being dispossessed.

Teenage defender Oluwatosin Adarabioyo went one worse than Kolarov and did cost his team a goal, as his poor pass in defence led to Arsenal going 3-1 up.

It’s becoming obvious that Guardiola is trying to drill a new mentality into his team, but his players are currently looking fairly awkward in the new system.

The team will no doubt improve as the season goes on, but it would be wise not to expect miracles from the get-go this term.

Five things we learned: 1, Walcott stakes a claim

Theo Walcott came on at half-time and looked dangerous for Arsenal in an advanced position.

He scored the goal which gave his side the lead, deftly dinking the ball over Joe Hart after good interplay with Alexis Sanchez.

The England striker would’ve got his name on the scoresheet minutes earlier if it hadn’t been for Hart magnificently tipping his low shot around the post.

Walcott is facing a make or break season at Arsenal after a disappointing campaign last time around, but he should be alright if he continues to deliver performances like this one.

Defensive frailties a concern for both sides

One of the most startling aspects to come out of today’s game was just how bad both teams were at the back.

They both looked dangerous in attack and for the Gunners in particular, up until the injury of Gabriel, that probably would have outweighed the negatives.

But the defending on show from both teams was woeful at times and it is hard to see either winning the Premier League if they defended like that every week until May.

Pep and Arsene have work to do

Wenger confirms Arsenal will be without three CBs for season opener

Arsene Wenger has had his say on the club’s defensive situation.

Mertesacker is sidelined for a while and Koscielny is still not fit and in the 3-2 win over Manchester City, Gabriel was stretchered off and looked like he will be out for a while.

The Gunners have addressed the issue by publishing a couple of tweets with answers from their manager, while City also sent their best wishes.

Arsenal need to hit the transfer market

Many thought the Gunners needed to enter the transfer market even before today’s game.

But with Gabriel now seemingly set for a spell on the sidelines, alongside Mertesacker, Arsene Wenger surely needs to sign at least one centre back, if not two.

However, we have all seen Wenger’s reluctance to enter the transfer market in the past.

FULL-TIME: Arsenal win but injury taints victory

Arsenal have beaten Manchester City 3-2 but Gabriel’s injury at the end of the match has put a real downer on things.

With Mertesacker already ruled out, the loss of Gabriel is a huge blow for the Gunners.

Today’s attacking performance will have been a confidence boost for the Arsenal fans but the Gabriel injury is of greater concern, especially considering the defensive showing today.

Injury worry for Gunners

This does not look good for Arsenal.

Gabriel went down after trying to win the ball and is still down in agony.

It looks like he is set for a spell on the sidelines and needs a stretcher.

City close to equalising

Navas should have scored.

The ball is squared to the winger and he sends the ball over the bar from close range.

That is a bad miss.

GOAL: City pull one back through Iheanacho

Game is set for a tense finish as City pull one back.

Navas’ picks out Iheanacho unmarked in the six-yard box and he nods in.

Awful defending from Arsenal.

GOAL: Akpon puts Arsenal 3-1 up

Calamitous defending from City gifts Arsenal a third goal.

A terrible pass across the defence is intercepted and despite Kolarov’s challenge, Hart can’t dive down and gather.

The ball rebounds into the path of Akpon and he is left with a simple finish for his fourth goal in as many games.

Subs a plenty

The number of changes in this game has been relentless.

At half-time Calum Chambers, Theo Walcott and Mohamed Elneny replaced Rob Holding, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Granit Xhaka.

While for City Joe Hart came on for Willy Cabellero.

Then just after the hour, Cazorla replaced Ramsey for the Gunners as Navas, Sagna, De Bruyne and Tosin all came on for City, with Nolito, Fernando, Zabaleta and Silva making way.

Yaya Toure and Iheanacho took the places of Delph and Aguero soon after, as did Joel Campbell for Iwobi.

Debuchy and Gibbs then replaced Bellerin and Monreal and a minute later Akpom was on for Sanchez.

Youngsters Tasende, Angelino and Zinchenko then came on for Clichy, Sterling and Fernandinho.

That should be all of them!

O dear Toure

Not good from Toure there.

De Bruyne picked him out 12 yards out and he was completely unmarked.

But the experienced midfielder skied the effort miles over with his first-time finish.

GOAL: Walcott puts Arsenal in front

Walcott received the ball with his back to goal on the touchline and showed a bit of skill before setting off on his way.

The ball was given to Sanchez and he slotted in Walcott, who had run into the box and his first-time finish was classy: lifting the ball over Hart.

Imagine if he could do that all the time!

City have a great chance too

Moments after Walcott went close, City went up the other end and Cech was forced into a good stop.

A low Navas shot towards the bottom corner was palmed away.

And Aguero was almost put in again when the ball was sent back into the box.

So close for Arsenal

Walcott close to putting Arsenal in front.

His low drive from the right hand side of the area was set for the bottom corner.

But his strike was tipped around the post by Hart.

City look shaky

Arsenal are finding it very easy to get the ball into City’s final third and get bodies forward.

For Iwobi’s goal they outnumbered City defenders and just now Ramsey almost got a shot away.

It ended with Arsenal winning a free-kick and Sanchez strikes it sweetly but it struck the bar.

Booking for Aguero

Bit of a wild challenge from Aguero sees him enter the book.

He was never going to get the ball and still took a swipe at Ramsey.

Rightly booked.

GOAL: Iwobi equalises

Arsenal are back level!

Walcott bursts down the right wing and pulled the ball back to the edge of the area.

Iwobi composed himself and then slotted a 20-yard shot into the bottom corner to make it 1-1.

Half-time - Arsenal 0-1 City

The referee blows the half-time whistle after 44 minutes and 56 seconds. He’s clearly got plans tonight.

City are one up at the break courtesy of Sergio Aguero’s neat finish from a fine Raheem Sterling cross.

40' - City comfortable in the lead

The pace of the match has dropped since Aguero opened the scoring for City on the half-hour mark.

Nolito had a half-hearted penalty shout turned down a few minutes later but City have remained relatively untroubled and are five minutes away from going in at the break 1-0 up.

30' - Goal! Arsenal 0-1 City, Aguero

Sergio Aguero opens the scoring.

Raheem Sterling, so often castigated for his (lack of) end product, delivers a delicious ball from the right wing for Aguero to slot home on the volley with his left foot.

Beautiful goal.

22' - Coquelin effort blocked on the line

Aleksandr Kolarov loses the ball to Alexis Sanchez in a dangerous position. The Chilean picks out Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who finds Francis Coquelin.

However, the midfielder’s effort is blocked on the line by a City player. Moments later, Aaron Ramsey sees his left-footed effort palmed away by Willy Caballero.

Arsenal have probably had the better of it so far.

21' - Sterling's hair comes to my attention

What. Is. That?

20' - Aguero crafts opportunity

Sergio Aguero leads Arsenal’s defenders a merry dance, whatever that means.

He picks up the ball just outside the area and leaves two Gunners players for dead before his left-footed shot is deflected into the path of Petr Cech by Hector Bellerin.