English football giants Arsenal won the two-day pre-season Emirates Cup title even though the English Premier League (EPL) team was beaten 1-2 by Sevilla. The Gunners lost to Sevilla but won the cup on goal difference. A highly unlikely result to happen in a tournament. Led by skipper Per Mertesacker Arsenal have now won the Emirates Cup back to back as they did so last year. With Alexandre Lacazette scoring a goal at the Emirates Stadium for the first time ensures the Gunners that there is a lot more to arise as the season starts in the second week of August.
After a scoreless first half, Joaquin Correa opened the scoring for Sevilla just four minutes into the second half on Sunday, reports Efe.
Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette equalised the score in the 62nd minute at the Emirates Stadium here.
Midfielder Steven N'Zonzi scored the second goal for Sevilla seven minutes later to secure the victory for the Spanish team.
The competitors in the 2017 Emirates Cup were Arsenal, Sevilla, Portuguese league club Benfica and Bundesliga runner-up RB Leipzig.
The tournament uses an unusual scoring system that not only awards a team three points for a win and one point for a draw but also a point for each goal it scores.
Despite the loss against Sevilla, Arsenal led the standings after thrashing Benfica 5-2 on Saturday.
On Saturday, Sevilla pulled out a 1-0 victory over RB Leipzig, while the German club defeated Benfica 2-0 earlier on Sunday.
Sevilla finished second with two victories, followed by RB Leipzig in third place. Benfica was at the bottom after suffering two defeats.
(With IANS Inputs).
