Arsenal were booed by their own fans after letting another lead slip to surrender the Emirates Cup with a 1-1 draw against Thierry Henry’s New York Red Bulls.
As in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Boca Juniors, who they had led 2-0, Arsenal were unable to close out a game they had dominated, with substitute Kyle Bartley putting through his own net six minutes from time.
That was after Robin van Persie had put the tournament hosts on course for a fourth Emirates Cup success out of five when he nodded home shortly before half-time.
The Red Bulls made just four changes from the side which surprised Paris St Germain on Saturday. One of the them was Henry, who was treated to a hero’s welcome on his return to the Emirates. The Gunners’ all-time top scorer took just seven minutes to make an impact, screwing a low shot wide.
After Henry’s free-kick forced an acrobatic save from Wojciech Szczesny, Ramsey missed a glorious chance to put Arsenal ahead, blazing over after superb trickery from Van Persie caused chaos in the visitors’ box.
The Emirates was virtually full but those inside suggested they were not getting their money’s worth by starting a Mexican wave shortly before the break. They were on their feet for the right reasons three minutes before half-time, Tomas Rosicky’s straight free-kick flighted perfectly for Van Persie to nod home past a stranded Rost.
Van Persie wasted another chance immediately after the restart, electing to square the ball when he should have shot. He was then denied an easy finish by a brilliant sliding interception by former Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez after brilliant skill down the left by Benik Afobe.
Van Persie and Gervinho combined to force another stop from Rost before they were replaced by Marouane Chamakh and Carlos Vela for the final 25 minutes.
Arsenal’s habit of tossing away leads had resurfaced on Saturday and they were almost caught on the break when Henry sent a trademark sidefoot effort too close to Szczesny.
And after a swathe of substitutions, they failed to heed the warning as the Red Bulls snatched an unlikely draw. Henry was the inspiration, threading in substitute Juan Agudelo, whose cross was turned into his own net by Bartley.
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2009, All Rights Reserved.
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