Arsenal – Galatasaray 04.08.2013

As before The Emirates Cup 2013 will be hosted by FC Arsenal.

Joining the Gunners at Emirates Stadium for this summer’s pre-season tournament will be Portuguese giants FC Porto, Serie A’s Napoli and Turkish champions Galatasaray. In the second round of the tournament the hosts Arsenal square off against Turkish side Galatasaray.

Having secured their place in the Champions League qualifiers for 15th consecutive year last term, Arsenal are brimming with confidence ahead of the start of the new campaign. The club chiefs have kept almost entire squad during the summer transfer window, while signing the deal with 20-year-old French striker Yaya Sanogo. The Gunners have done remarkably well in pre-season, with the team winning four out of four matches, having scored no less than 19 goals in those matches against Indonesia XI, Vietnam, Nagoya and Urawa. Arsen Wengerˈs men started their Emirates Cup campaign with a d2:2 draw with Italian side Napoli, meaning that the Gunners face a must-win situation in the clash against Turkish champions Galatasaray. Olivier Giroud scored an overhead kick stunner and the French striker will be the only central forward in the clash against Galatasaray on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to late goals by Giroud and Koscielny the Gunners picked up three points (one goal – one point) from the clash against Napoli.

Galatasaray also have quite a few brilliant players, including Wesley Sjneider, Didier Drogba, Burak Yilmaz and none other than former Arsenal right back Emmanuel Eboue. Eboue’s Arsenal career came to an unfortunate end two years ago, but he remains a favorite among the Gunners. By beating Porto 1:0 at the start of the Emirates Cup the Turks are brimming with confidence ahead of the clash against hosts Arsenal. The Turkish champions, who did remarkably well in the Champions League last term, scored the winner on the 70th minute, with Felipe Melo finding the net from the penalty spot. Seven minutes later Porto missed a chance to equalize, as Lucho dragged his spot-kick well wide. Galata are currently sitting in the first position in the Emirates Cup standings with 4 points, just one point ahead of Arsenal and Napoli who are level at the top with three points each.