Barclays Asia Trophy 2015: Everton and Arsenal progress to Singapore final

By Adam Higgins
Jul 15, 2015
9 min read

Premier League sides Arsenal and Everton will contest Saturday's Barclays Asia Trophy Final after coming out on top in their semi-finals at the pre-season tournament in Singapore.

A Chuka Akpom hat-trick, including a penalty, and a Jack Wilshere spotkick saw the Gunners thrash a Singapore Select XI 4-0 at the national stadium in south-east Asia in their first pre-season outing.

Roberto Martinez's Toffees claimed a 5-4 win on penalties over fellow top-flight outfit Stoke City after Marco van Ginkel missed the only spotkick of the shootout for the Potters following a goalless draw.

Mark Hughes's Stoke will meet the Singapore Select XI on Saturday at 11am BST with the Arsenal-Everton final to follow at 1:30pm BST.

This is the seventh edition of the four-team biennal pre-season competition since its inception in 2003 and is taking place in the Lion City of Singapore for the first time.

Two years ago, Manchester City won the tournament - the only one sanctioned by the Premier League outside the British Isles - in Hong Kong which also featured Sunderland, Tottenham and South China.

ARSENAL 4-0 SINGAPORE SELECT XI

Emphatic: Wilshere scores the Gunners' second goal from the penalty spot

Chuka Akpom's hat-trick helped Arsenal secure their final place in their first Asia Trophy appearance with a comfortable win over a Singapore Select XI.

19-year-old striker Akpom, who is still yet to score his first senior Gunners goal, rifled home the opener with a low effort on 30 minutes.

Jack Wilshere struck the insurance goal from the penalty spot on the hour mark after Mathieu Debuchy was adjudged to have been tripped in the box by Sirina Camara.

Akpom then scored twice in three minutes, burying another spotkick before heading home substitute Hector Bellerin's delightful cross to complete the scoring.

It is only the second ever hat-trick in the Asia Trophy with the other coming two years ago from Jermain Defoe in Tottenham's 6-0 win over South China in Hong Kong.

The FA Cup winners, who lost one of their final 14 matches in 2014-15, picked up where they left off last season with a dominant display to run out convincing winners against a side consisting of players who mainly turn out for the Singapore national team.

After Saturday's final against fellow Premier League opponents Everton, their preparations for their league opener at home to West Ham on August 9 continue when they host the Emirates Cup in two weeks' time and face Chelsea in the Community Shield at Wembley on August 2.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, preparing for his 20th season in charge, sprung a surprise by not selecting new £10 million goalkeeper Petr Cech for his first start since arriving from Chelsea as 22-year-old Emiliano Martinez got the nod.

Per Mertesacker captained a side with a mixture of youth and experience, featuring young forwards Chuba Akpom and Alex Iwobi as well as veteran midfielder Mathieu Flamini alongside Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Much-loved: Plenty of Arsenal's foreign fans were in attendance showing their support

The Gunners - who have a massive fanbase in the far east - were well-supported inside a Singapore National Stadium that had increased in volume since the first match.

The London club came out of the traps quickly to establish their superiority as Oxlade-Chamberlain's drilled 20-yard shot whistled narrowly wide from a Wilshere corner inside five minutes.

Wilshere - who scored his first England goals against Slovenia last month - and Oxlade-Chamberlain were lively throughout a first half that Arsenal dominated for long spells without creating too many chances.

The former Southampton player drew a fine save from Singapore Select's highly-rated keeper Izwan Mahbud, who was also alert to deny Iwobi with his feet at the near post.

The local team - coached by ex-Singapore footballer Varadaraju Sundramoorthy - grew into the game and illustrated their intention to give the Gunners a tough test.

But, just when the heat looked to be affecting the intensity of Arsenal's play, they took the lead on the half-hour.

On top: Arsenal would have been champions based on their form in the second half of last season

Iwobi fizzed a raking pass forward which Wilshere took in his stride and, when his path was blocked by Baihakki Khaizan, Akpom was on hand to drill an unstoppable shot into the net for the first official goal of the competition.

The former Nottingham Forest loanee almost added a second minutes later but Mahbud raced out to close the angle after being released in behind by the influential Iwobi.

There was only one half-time change from either side as Woijech Szczesny replaced Martinez in the Arsenal goal, meaning Cech's debut is likely to come against Everton at the weekend.

Starstruck: The Singapore players and fans revelled in playing against their Premier League heroes who they watch regularly on TV

But Singapore Select were forced to replace hamstring injury victim Izzdin Shafiq with Faris Ramli early in the second half, forcing winger Camara to play as a makeshift left-back.

As the Mexican wave swept around the ground, Arsenal turned on the style with some irresistible play as Nigerian-born Iwobi continued to impress but failed to hit the target with two quick-fire efforts.

Singapore Select defender Madhu Mohana then cleared off the line after Oxlade-Chamberlain slotted the ball past the onrushing keeper Mahbud.

But on the hour mark, Mahbud was sent the wrong way from 12 yards by Wilshere - taking over penalty duties from the absent Santi Cazorla - after referee Jon Moss decided Camara had clipped the heels of Debuchy.

With a safe winning margin, Wenger blooded youngsters Dan Crowley, Chris Willock and Gedion Zelalem instead of other first-team players while ex-Brentford loanee Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin also got run-outs.

Breather: Drinks breaks were consumed midway through both halves in Singapore

Singapore were the more fitter side throughout but tired mentally and physically as Arsenal showed no signs of letting up by pouring forward in search of more goals.

And on 76 minutes, England U20 international Akpom confidently despatched Arsenal's second penalty, with Wilshere having been substituted, after being floored by a rash Ishak challenge.

It took him just three minutes to complete his first career treble with an unstoppable header from six yards following a teasing delivery by new no.24 Bellerin.

Midfielders Toral, 20, and Crowley, 17, also went close to inflicting further damage in the closing stages but it was already job done for Arsenal as they stroll through to what should be a more difficult task in the final.

TEAMS:

Substitutes: Szczesny (for Martinez 45'), Crowley (for Wilshere 63'), Zelalem (for Oxlade-Chamberlain 63'), Willock (for Flamini 63'), Toral (for Iwobi 71'), Bellerin (for Debuchy 71').

Booked: None

Goals: Akpom (30', 76', 79'), Wilshere (60' pen)

Substitutes: Faris (for Shafiq 53'), Tosi (for Amri 57'), Zulfahmi (for Velez 64'), Ishak (for Sulaiman 71'), Nawaz (for Bahrudin 79'), Hahka (for Camara 79').

Booked: Mohana (44')

Goals: None

Referee: Jon Moss (England) Attendance: 29,800

EVERTON 0-0 STOKE CITY (Everton win 5-4 on penalties)

Narrow margin: Only one missed penalty separated the two evenly-matched sides

EVERTON booked their spot in the 2015 Barclays Asia Trophy Final on Saturday after beating Stoke City 5-4 on penalties in the opening match of the competition.

Romelu Lukaku had a goal ruled out for offside as a tight and keenly-fought encounter between the two Premier League sides finished goalless after 90 minutes.

Stoke substitute Marco van Ginkel saw his penalty saved by Everton keeper Tim Howard in the only miss of the shoot-out.

It ensured Everton, who lost to Thailand and Manchester City on penalties in their previous Asia Trophy participation in 2005, return to the newly-opened 55,000-seater national stadium to face the Gunners after their 1-0 victory over a Singapore Select XI later on Wednesday.

Transfer activity: Everton's summer business so far as of 15 July 2015

Stoke - involved in the prestigious tournament for the first time after securing successive ninth place finishes in the top-flight - will take on the local team in Saturday's third/fourth place play-off.

Boss Mark Hughes though will be pleased with the work-out his team received from their first pre-season action and particularly the contribution of keeper Jakob Haugard, who is expected to battle with Jack Butland and Shay Given for the number one jersey in the upcoming campaign.

The Dane was one of four Stoke debutants, as well as 22-year-old left-back Dionatan Teixeira, last season's young player of the year Oliver Shenton in midfield and German-born Spanish striker Joselu - a £5.8 million summer buy from Hannover 96.

Aside from the inclusion of young defenders Tyias Browning, 21, and Brendon Galloway, 19, Everton boss Roberto Martinez fielded a strong line-up including captain Phil Jagielka, Ross Barkley and last season's 20-goal top scorer Romelu Lukaku.

Familiar faces: Premier League match officials were joined by Singapore counterparts to take charge of the games

The Toffees, who finished 11th in the Premier League last term and beat Swindon 4-0 in their first pre-season friendly last weekend, made a strong start with Kevin Mirallas testing Haugard inside the opening minute with a low shot.

The first half mirrored the two Premier League meetings between the sides last term with Everton playing the more progressive football through neat build-up.

But Stoke, who completed the league double over the Toffees with a 2-0 win at the Britannia Stadium and 1-0 victory at Goodison Park, were more penetrative going forward and created the better of the few openings.

Peter Odemwingie drilled off target from six yards out after a low cross from Oliver Shenton and, after a two-minute drinks break midway through the opening 45 minutes, Marko Arnautovic was denied by a last-ditch Phil Jagielka challenge as he bore down on the Everton goal.

Stephen Ireland then fired over from long range following excellent work by Arnautovic to escape the attentions of Browning.

Second time around: Martinez (centre) picked up 25 fewer Premier League points last season compared to his first campaign in charge in 2013-14

However, it was Everton who thought they had snatched the lead with the last kick of the half when Lukaku rounded Haugard to slot home from Pienaar's through-ball but he was flagged offside by the assistant referee John Brooks.

Martinez made five of the permitted six substitutions at the break with the new no.5 John Stones, Leon Osman, summer signings Gerard Deulofeu and Tom Cleverley as well as Steven Naismith entering the fray.

And the latter almost made an instant impact within 60 seconds as the Scot Naismith exchanged passes with fellow sub Osman but his powerful angled drive was palmed over athletically by Haugard.

Charlie Adam, fresh from signing a new three-year deal, made an impression when replacing Arnautovic at the break for Stoke, who went close on the hour as Ireland was thwarted from close range by Tim Howard following a low Odemwingie delivery.

As the action swung from end to end and the pace picked up, Deulofeu struck tamely at Haugard when played in by James McCarthy.

Top job: Mark Hughes (right) guided Stoke to a club-record Premier League haul of 54 points last season

A flurry of alterations and the oppressive conditions in south-east Asia inevitably disrupted the flow as Stoke introduced forwards Jon Walters and Peter Crouch, on-loan Chelsea midfielder van Ginkel for his debut and Irish defender Marc Wilson.

The Toffees, who had two thirds of the second-half possession, sent on Arouna Kone for McCarthy for their final change to inject extra firepower.

They had struggled to find an end product against the stubborn rearguard of Stoke until the final 10 minutes when Naismith got free and was denied by a smothering stop by Haugard before Cleverley's forward run was superbly tracked by Geoff Cameron.

Despite fitness lacking in the closing stages, the competitive edge remained as Stoke demonstrated urgency themselves with Adam and captain Steve Sidwell spraying passes towards Crouch.

Lethal Lukaku: The Belgian has scored 25 Premier League goals in the last two seasons

Everton should have sealed it in the dying embers through Lukaku, who sliced wide after pouncing on a Wilson mistake before Haugard blocked his route to goal moments later by rushing off his goalline.

Despite an eye-catching display, Stoke's debutant keeper was powerless in preventing Everton from netting all five of their penalties in the shoot-out as Lukaku, Cleverley, Stones, Deulofeu and Jagielka all cooly converted to send the Toffees to the final.

HOW THE PENALTY SHOOTOUT UNFOLDED:

On the spot: The England defender smashed home his spotkick as part of Everton's 100% penalty record

Charlie Adam (Stoke City) Scored 1-0 Romelu Lukaku (Everton) Scored 1-1 Marco van Ginkel (Stoke City) SAVED 1-1 Tom Cleverley (Everton) Scored 1-2

Jon Walters (Stoke City) Scored 2-2 John Stones (Everton) Scored 2-3 Phil Bardsley (Stoke City) Scored 3-3 Gerard Deulofeu (Everton) Scored 3-4 Peter Crouch (Stoke City) Scored 4-4 Phil Jagielka (Everton) Scored 4-5

TEAMS:

Substitutes: Adam (for Arnautovic 45'), Crouch (for Joselu (63'), van Ginkel (for Odemwingie 63'), Wilson (for Muniesa 63'), Walters (for Shenton 71').

Booked: Bardsley (30')

Goals: None

Substitutes: Osman (for Barry 45'), Deulofeu (for Mirallas 45'), Cleverley (for Pienaar 45'), Naismith (for Barkley 45'), Stones (for Hibbert 45'), Kone (for McCarthy 82').

Booked: None

Goals: None