Borussia Dortmund beat Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday to win the Emirates Cup, a second successive pre-season defeat for Mikel Arteta's side in which they conceded three goals. Arsenal had lost 3-1 to Real Betis in Dublin four days earlier, a display Arteta had already described as "below the standard."
Dortmund led 2-0 at half-time through Samuele Inacio, who finished after being played through by Lukas Nmecha inside seven minutes, and the 18-year-old Konstantinos Karetsas, who scored after a Riccardo Calafiori giveaway sparked a solo run in the 29th minute. Referee Chris Kavanagh initially pointed to a penalty for a foul on Martin Odegaard before changing his decision to a free kick, which Viktor Gyokeres fired over, and Gyokeres also struck the bar before the break. Ethan Nwaneri pulled a goal back early in the second half from Christos Tzolis's assist, before a mishandled corner let Joane Gadou restore Dortmund's two-goal cushion. Gyokeres converted a penalty won by Tzolis, fouled by Jobe Bellingham, to make it 3-2, and Gabriel Martinelli had a stoppage-time equaliser ruled out for offside.
Since December 2023, Arsenal had conceded three goals in a competitive match only once, a 3-2 defeat by Manchester United in January that ended a 121-match run without conceding three goals. This is their first time conceding three in back-to-back matches since April 2023, when they drew 3-3 with Southampton before a 4-1 title-decider defeat to Manchester City. William Saliba's injury and Jurrien Timber's continued absence with a long-term groin issue have left the back four without its usual first-choice options; three of the six goals conceded across the Betis and Dortmund games came from shots outside the box and two from defensive corners.
Arsenal are understood to have registered interest in Ezri Konsa and, more strikingly, Tottenham captain Cristian Romero as they weigh defensive reinforcements. New signing Bruno Guimaraes was introduced to the Emirates crowd before kick-off but is yet to feature; he is one of eight first-team players, including Declan Rice, due back in full training on Monday once Arsenal's World Cup-winning contingent returns.