SINGAPORE: Atletico Madrid’s Luciano Vietto (C) scores against Arsenal during their International Champions Cup match on Thursday.—AP
SINGAPORE: Atletico Madrid’s Luciano Vietto (C) scores against Arsenal during their International Champions Cup match on Thursday.—AP

SINGAPORE: Atletico Madrid substitute goalkeeper Antonio Adan saved three penalties before blasting home the winning spot-kick as the Europa League champions edged out Arsenal after the sides drew 1-1 in their International Champions Cup opener in Singapore on Thursday.

An inexperienced Atletico side took the lead in the first half when Luciano Vietto slotted home a powerful header before Arsenal rallied after the break with a brilliant equaliser from impressive teenage midfielder Emile Smith Rowe.

Paris St Germain are the other team in the tournament and the French champions will face Arsenal at the same venue on Saturday before closing the event against Atletico on Monday.

The sixth edition of the pre-season International Champions Cup tournament features 18 teams overall with matches in Singapore, the United States and Europe. Each of the teams will play three matches each to decide the overall winner.

PSG have already played Bayern Munich in the Audi Football Summit, which is a part of the tournament, while Arsenal and Atletico will play a game each in Europe against Chelsea and Olympique Lyonnais respectively.

EAST RUTHERFORD (New Jersey): Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius punches the ball away against Manchester City at the MetLife Stadium.—Reuters
EAST RUTHERFORD (New Jersey): Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius punches the ball away against Manchester City at the MetLife Stadium.—Reuters

Five matches were played in the United States leg on Wednesday with Arsenal’s Premier League rivals Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all winning.

Liverpool came from behind to beat Premier League champions Manchester City 2-1, United defeated AC Milan on penalties after a 1-1 draw and Spurs thrashed AS Roma 4-1.

Also, Andrea Favilli announced himself with a first-half brace as Juventus eased past Bayern Munich 2-0 in Philadelphia and Borussia Dortmund fell to Benfica 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in Pennsylvania.

PHILADELPHIA (Pennsylvania): Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben (C) vies with Juventus players at the Lincoln Financial Field.—AFP
PHILADELPHIA (Pennsylvania): Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben (C) vies with Juventus players at the Lincoln Financial Field.—AFP

New-look Arsenal left out controversy-hit Mesut Ozil but still impressed before they were edged by Europa League champions Atletico. Ozil, who caused a furore when he quit German national duty claiming racism, was rested after his World Cup exertions.

In a rare Atletico foray forward, Angel Correa crossed from the byline to his fellow Argentine Vietto, whose header looped past new Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno in the 41st minute.

But Arsenal struck two minutes into the second half when Smith Rowe curled the equaliser into the top corner from the edge of the box, before mass substitutions in the last half-hour made for a disjointed finale before the penalty shoot-out.

SAN DIEGO (California): Tottenham’s Luke Amos (R) competes for the ball with Javier Pastore of AS Roma.—AP
SAN DIEGO (California): Tottenham’s Luke Amos (R) competes for the ball with Javier Pastore of AS Roma.—AP

“I thought we done really well under a new manager [Unai Emery]. We pressed well and created plenty of opportunities but just couldn’t put them away,” Arsenal captain Ramsey said in a post-match interview.

LIVERPOOL DOWN CITY, UNITED EDGE MILAN

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp hailed Mohamed Salah’s impact as the playmaker made a scoring return in their win over City.

The Egypt international, who was Liverpool’s top scorer last season with 44 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions, suffered a shoulder injury in the club’s Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid in May.

Salah was introduced as a second half substitute against City at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford and the 26-year-old levelled the scores almost immediately before forward Sadio Mane scored the winner after Leroy Sane had opened the scoring for City.

“He is in that moment but he has absolutely no issues... He came in and scored after pretty much 35 seconds. He had a big impact together with Sadio and played fantastic,” Klopp told reporters.

PITTSBURGH (Pennsylvania): Benfica Franco Cervi goes airborne after a slide tackle by Borussia Dortmund’s defender Amos Pieper at Heinz Field.—Reuters
PITTSBURGH (Pennsylvania): Benfica Franco Cervi goes airborne after a slide tackle by Borussia Dortmund’s defender Amos Pieper at Heinz Field.—Reuters

Liverpool next play on Saturday against United, for whom Alexis Sanchez was on target against Milan in a low-key game at Carson’s StubHub Center.

Sanchez fired United into the lead with a well-taken goal on 12 minutes before Spanish midifelder Suso equalised for Milan three minutes later.

A bizarre shoot-out was won 9-8 by United, with both teams having to recycle their penalty takers after a string of missed spot-kicks.

Ander Herrera fired United into the lead in sudden death with his second penalty before Ivorian youngster Franck Kessie chipped his spot-kick over the bar to give United the win.

In San Diego, doubles from Fernando Llorente and Lucas Moura earned Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs a comfortable victory against Roma.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2018

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.