Arsenal defeat gatecrashed by birds, 'fuming' players and Max Dowman heroics
· Tom Canton · 2026-08-06 · nguồn gốc
Arsenal defeat gatecrashed by birds, 'fuming' players and the Max Dowman masterclass
football.london rounds up all the moments missed from Arsenal's defeat to Real Betis in their third pre-season friendly
Arsenal were beaten in their third pre-season friendly of the summer after conceding three goals to Real Betis. Kepa Arrizabalaga made two high-profile errors, while Illan Meslier came on to make a reaction-style stop.
Plenty of the Arsenal first-team squad were missing, however, from the group, while Bruno Guimaraes is close to completing his move. Mikel Arteta said that this was a good thing for his players to experience.
Pre-season always throws up some eye-catching things, but we experienced one of the most bizarre scenes ever, which was a nice distraction from the poor performance on the field. Here is everything that perhaps you might’ve missed that we caught from inside the Aviva Stadium.
FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
Going the extra mile
While the first half was hardly anything to celebrate, there was one moment which drew the attention of Mikel Arteta for positive reasons. Max Dowman had been his usual dazzling self, taking on players, beating them and being a threat.
However, what drew applause from the Spaniard was when the ball was lost down the right, the 16-year-old made it a mission to tear back down the line into his own half, getting a touch on the ball and recovering possession. Unsurprisingly, Arteta was spotted down below us, as the press box was situated high above the dugouts, applauding the youngster.
It’s only a friendly Mikel!
However, as mentioned, this was really the only time outside the Piero Hincapie goal in the first half that Mikel Arteta was anything other than standing with a scowl on his face. Up on the touchline, often gesticulating frantically and barking orders to his players, he was clearly not happy.
Understandably so, with so many loose passes gifting Real Betis possession in dangerous areas. Kepa and then Kai Havertz both guilty, it was an angry trudge down the touchline and into the tunnel where, despite this being ‘only a friendly’, I can imagine it wouldn’t have been a comfortable seat for those players receiving their orders at the break.
He said afterwards that the players were ‘fuming’ but that this was a good thing.
The birds!
It has to be one of the most bizarre experiences at a football match I have ever witnessed. With ten minutes left to go, the upper tiers were suddenly swarming with massive seagulls.
As the game finished and supporters began to leave, it must have perhaps been the litter left behind in the stands which drew more and more of the avian wildlife into the ground. As fans were leaving, the gulls began dive-bombing the crisp packets hoping to find something.
This perhaps gives you more of an insight if you missed the game how from an Arsenal perspective, it was perhaps one worth having a distraction from.