Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has played down the significance of the Gunners losing 2-1 to Scottish side Hibernian in their opening pre-season friendly of the summer, although equally admitted that it is always disappointing to lose any game.
Arsenal went 2-0 down in Edinburgh after conceding a goal in each half. Nicolas Pepe missed a penalty with just under 10 minutes left, before Emile Smith Rowe eventually pulled one back.
It was wasn’t a full strength Gunners side, featuring teenage goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo and emerging centre-back Harry Clarke, with others like Omar Rekik, Jack Henry-Francis and Karl Hein appearing from the bench in the second half.
But there were still enough senior names like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Willian to avoid defeat, although Arteta was keen to point out the squad has only trained a handful of times.