Arsenal secured a narrow 2-1 victory in the final match of their Asian tour, thanks to a Chuba Akpom’s dying minute goal against Urawa Red Diamonds.
In their toughest pre-season fixture so far, Jack Wilshere made his first start since undergoing ankle surgery in May, but it was Lukas Podolski that gave the gunners the lead 4 minutes after the restart.
Some neat link-up play between substitute Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott resulted in Podolski hammering home from 12 yards.
Urawa leveled up in the 59th minute through a stunning volley from Yuki Abe as the tourists struggled to clear a corner.
But the Gunners weren’t to be denied a 100% start to their pre-season campaign as substitute Akpom capitalised on a defensive error from Mitsuru Nagata to roll into an empty net in the 82nd minute.
