Arsenal draw 1-1 with Sevilla to win Amsterdam trophy
Arsenal won the Amsterdam Tournament trophy with a 1-1 draw against Sevilla on Saturday night.
Carlos Vela's fourth-minute strike gave Arsene Wenger's youthful side an early lead. A more senior Sevilla team responded impressively.
They bossed the latter stages of the first half and all of the second. The Spaniards spurned a host of chances before Javier Chevanton finally converted from close range with nine minutes left.
However the late equaliser did not change the winners of this year's Amsterdam Tournament.
The event awards an extra point for each goal scored so Arsenal's final tally of eight points put them comfortably ahead of Inter (5 pts), Sevilla (3pts) and Ajax (2pts).
Victory is always beneficial, especially when youngsters are involved. However Wednesday nights's trip 60 miles east of Amsterdam will be much more important.
Arsenal visit Arnhem in midweek to play Twente in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier.
With a Champions League qualifier in Holland against Steve McClaren's FC Twente coming on August 13th, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had suggested this encounter would serve as "ideal preparation" for the opening of the new campaign.
Arsenal named a strong XI, which included a first start of pre-season for Euro 2008 winner Cesc Fabregas - while defender Kolo Toure also featured, fit again following his bout of malaria.
And it proved to be a good test, as the Dutch side - beaten by FC Twente in a play-off for a crack at Europe's elite club competition - went into the break 2-0 ahead following quick-fire goals from Uruguay striker Luis Suarez and highly-rated captain Klaas Jan Huntelaar.
Arsenal rallied in the second half and were given a lifeline through Adebayor's bullet header - before, with 15 minutes left, substitute Nicklas Bendtner levelled the scores.
There was still time for a winner too - which came when Adebayor slotted home from Denilson's pass following another slick passing move by the Barclays Premier League club.
Preseason results : ManYoo, Arsenal, Newcastle, Man City
Manchester United were frustrated in their final pre-season friendly of the summer as they played out a goalless draw with Juventus.
Sir Alex Ferguson sent out a strong side with the Community Shield against Portsmouth just four days away.
Juve will not start their Serie A campaign until the end of the month but they matched United in a tight first half, with neither goalkeeper seriously tested.
Lee Martin was perhaps unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after being brought down by Zdenek Grygera, while Darren Fletcher blazed over from a tight angle on the left.
There were few chances after the break either, although Paul Scholes spurned one glorious opportunity as he headed wide from point-blank range.
Newcastle had to settle for a 2-2 draw with PSV Eindhoven at St James' Park despite scoring twice in the first 10 minutes.
Steven Taylor put the hosts ahead after only three minutes, heading in Geremi's outswinging corner, and debutant Danny Guthrie made it two five minutes later from James Milner's through ball.
Newcastle were pegged back on the half-hour mark as Ibrahim Afellay fired in after Shay Given parried a shot from Nordin Amrabat.
Former Manchester City goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson prevented the Magpies from extending their lead and it was Amrabat who drew PSV level 20 minutes from time with a snapshot from 12 yards.
Arsenal's youngsters took home the Herbert Chapman Trophy after two goals in the last 15 minutes gave them a 2-1 victory over Huddersfield at the Galpharm Stadium.
The match was held to celebrate Huddersfield's centenary, with the cup named after the legendary manager of both clubs in the 1920s and 30s.
James Berrett gave the hosts the lead after 75 minutes but Sanchez Watt quickly equalised and Nacer Barazite grabbed the winner three minutes from time.
Celtic finalised their Clydesdale Bank Premier League preparations with a 1-1 draw against Manchester City in their friendly encounter at Parkhead.
Martin Petrov's 54th-minute strike gave City a deserved lead before youngster Paul McGowan equalised with 10 minutes remaining with his first goal for the first team.
McGowan missed the chance to become the hero when he hit the bar from 10 yards out in the final seconds as Celtic pressed for the winner.
Preseason wins for Chelsea, Arsenal, Hamburg and Ajax
Nicolas Anelka scored four times as Chelsea tore apart a weakened Milan team 5-0 in their pre-season friendly.
Without Kaka or Ronaldinho, the Italians fell behind to Frank Lampard's second minute opener, and were never in the game as the Blues emphatically settled the third-place play-off in the Railways Cup.
There were four goals for Anelka during a game where Milan looked barely interested, especialy after finding themselves 0-3 down at halftime.
In London, a near-full strength Arsenal beat Real Madrid 1-0 at the Emirates, with Emmanuel Adebayor scoring the winner in the second half.
Unlike yesterday's match against Juventus, Arsene Wenger chose a strong side - led by captain William Gallas, with Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor also featuring, and home start for summer signing Samir Nasri on the left of midfield.
Hamburg won the Emirates Cup with a 3-0 victory over Juventus taking them to 7 points in the mini-league that also awards a point for each goal scored.
Sunderland lost 1-0 at home to Ajax. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored the only goal in the 80th minute at the Stadium of Light.
Arsenal's young Gunners Nicklas Bendtner, Carlos Vela and 16-year-old Jack Wilshere were all on target in Wednesday's pre-season friendly win over Stuttgart at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
The trio continued their form from the 10-2 thrashing of a Burgenland XI on Monday night as Arsene Wenger's men fought back to beat the Germans and former team-mate Jens Lehmann.
Wenger named a strong starting XI, but it was his young substitutes who would prove the match winners.
There was a debut for summer signing Samir Nasri, the first pre-season appearance by Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor - a target for AC Milan - and the side was led by captain William Gallas.
Lehmann easily collected an attempted chip from Robin van Persie in the 11th minute, before current Arsenal number one Manuel Almunia made a smart save at the near post from Romania striker Ciprian Marica and Nasri fired a 25-yard effort over following a quick counter-attack.
Veteran Lehmann, 38, showed brilliant reactions to deny Theo Walcott from point-blank range after he was set up by van Persie.
Young Danish striker Bendtner - who bagged four goals on Monday night - was introduced for the second half, as was promising Mexican Vela, back from his loan spell in Spain, while Pole Lukasz Fabianski replaced Almunia in the Arsenal goal.
However, the Gunners were behind six minutes after the restart when Stuttgart substitute Yildiray Basturk drilled in a low strike from the edge of the box.
Arsenal were soon level as Bendtner slipped Vela in on the right side of the penalty area. The 19-year-old held off both his marker and Lehmann before smashing the ball in off the underside of the crossbar to take his tally to four goals in two games.
Nasri's debut lasted an hour before he was replaced by Wilshere and £5million summer signing Aaron Ramsey, the Wales Under-21 midfielder, was also introduced.
Vela then turned provider for Bendtner, who nodded on a chipped pass to power into the area and stab the ball past Lehmann as Arsenal went ahead in the 65th minute.
Wilshere - who netted his first senior goals for the Gunners earlier this week - made it a night to remember when he drilled in a left-foot shot following persistent work by full-back Gael Clichy.
Wenger's analysis :
Arsene Wenger told Arsenal TV: "It is good for the confidence to win here and you could see that the young players did well again tonight. I believe the strikers have shown it can work."
"Vela is a little bit like Eduardo da Silva, and Nicklas we already know from the end of last season is a very powerful striker. They both did very well."
Nasri was used in a more central midfield role, and Wenger said: "It was a very positive performance for his first game. He has all it takes to be a good player in this team."
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Arsenal won the Amsterdam Tournament trophy with a 1-1 draw against Sevilla on Saturday night. 
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