Friendly Encounters: Young Gunners Go For It

Barnet 1 Arsenal 2
Arsenal's annual pre-season opener against Barnet finished with a hard-fought 2-1 over the League 2 outfit at Underhill - thanks largely to their young stars. Arsene Wenger handed a debut to Aaron Ramsey and started with Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner up front. Emmanuel Adebayor was rested after being in international action over the summer. However, despite a reasonably strong visiting line-up, it was the hosts who struck first, taking the lead fifteen minutes in through Kenny Gillet's well-taken strike. A more youthful Gunners side arrived for the start of the second half as Wenger substituted his entire eleven, but despite their lack of experience they fared much better than the first half team, levelling up on 63 minutes through Jay Simpson's emphatic finish. Nacer Barazite then added the second ten minutes later as the Gunners sealed a solid start to their pre-season campaign.

Next game: Szombathelyi H. (A) Tuesday 22nd July

Kaizer Chiefs 1 Manchester United 1
Manchester United's Vodacom Challenge opener finished in a 1-1 draw in Cape Town. Rio Ferdinand and Mikael Silvestre had to withdraw from the squad late on, but Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a strong team with Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney leading the line. However, it was the hosts who took the lead as Jonathan Quartey converted from the spot on 37 minutes following a foul by Gary Neville. It was just reward for an impressive first half display from the Chiefs, but a resilient United side improved after the interval and found the equaliser on the hour mark when Chris Eagles headed home Tevez's well-flighted cross.