Betis stuns Arsenal in Copa del Rey-style upset during warm-up

Arsenal suffered their first setback of the summer after falling to Real Betis (1-3) in a friendly played in Dublin, according to L'Équipe. Four days after thrashing Girona (4-1), Mikel Arteta's side were hampered by the absences of key figures including Gabriel, William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice.

The Sevillian side struck early when Kepa Arrizabalaga fluffed his lines on a corner: Rodrigo Riquelme controlled with his chest and fired home a volley (min. 9). Nelson Deossa doubled the lead with a powerful strike from over twenty metres (min. 26), and before half-time Pablo Fornals sealed it after a Kai Havertz mistake in possession (min. 43).

Arsenal pulled one back through Piero Hincapié's corner conversion (min. 32), but couldn't find their way back into the contest. Defensive shortcomings proved decisive in a preseason run-out where the absence of first-team regulars was clearly felt.