Borussia Dortmund beats Arsenal 3-2 in Emirates Cup

Borussia Dortmund defeated Arsenal 3-2 at Emirates Stadium on Sunday in a preseason Emirates Cup match, with three teenage players scoring for the German club. The result came one week before Arsenal is due to face Manchester City in the Community Shield and less than two weeks before Dortmund’s Supercup match against Bayern Munich. It was the first meeting between Arsenal and Dortmund since 2014.

Arsenal opened with sustained pressure and produced an early chance from a corner, but Dortmund scored first in the seventh minute. Fabio Silva and Felix Nmecha combined to move the ball quickly into the attacking third, and 18-year-old Samuele Inacio finished the move with a one-touch shot into the far corner. The early goal shifted the match from an Arsenal-controlled start into a contest in which Dortmund could threaten whenever the home side left space.

Dortmund extended its lead in the 29th minute. Konstantinos Karetsas, also 18, was allowed room near the edge of the penalty area and curled a left-footed shot into the corner. The appearance was Karetsas’ first for Borussia Dortmund after joining the squad only days earlier. His goal gave the visitors a 2-0 halftime advantage and made him the second teenager to score in the match.

Arsenal improved after halftime and cut the deficit in the 54th minute through Ethan Nwaneri. Dortmund restored the two-goal advantage four minutes later when 19-year-old defender Joane Gadou scored following a corner. Gadou said afterward that it was his first goal for the club. The quick response prevented Arsenal from building sustained momentum after Nwaneri had brought the home side back into the contest.

Viktor Gyökeres converted a penalty for Arsenal in the 69th minute, making the score 3-2. The hosts continued to attack but were unable to equalize before the final whistle. At Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta’s request, the teams held a separate penalty shootout after the match. Arsenal won the shootout, but it was a training exercise and did not affect the official match score. Dortmund remained the 3-2 winner of the Emirates Cup game.

Dortmund was not at full strength in London. Emre Can, Nico Schlotterbeck and Mussa Kaba were in rehabilitation, while goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and Julian Ryerson had only recently returned from their break and did not travel. Waldemar Anton and Diant Ramaj also remained out of the group for training-related reasons. Those absences increased the value of the minutes given to younger players against the reigning Premier League champions.

The absences gave Dortmund coach Niko Kovač an opportunity to evaluate a younger lineup against a high-level opponent. After the game, Kovač emphasized that the score itself was not the primary objective of preseason. He said he was more interested in signs of progress and specifically pointed to the way Dortmund constructed its first two goals. His approach placed the youth story inside a broader evaluation of team structure rather than treating it as a standalone breakthrough.

Sporting director Lars Ricken focused on the same balance. He praised the fact that two 18-year-olds and a 19-year-old scored but also credited the experienced players around them for creating the conditions in which the younger players could succeed. That distinction is important in a preseason setting where individual performances can attract attention before roles are settled. A goal can earn another opportunity; consistent integration is what earns a season-long role.

Arsenal’s next major assignment is official. The 2025-26 Premier League champions will face 2026 FA Cup winner Manchester City in the Community Shield at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Aug. 16. The Football Association has set kickoff for 3 p.m. British Summer Time. The one-week gap leaves Arteta with limited time to address the moments Dortmund exploited, particularly quick transitions and the third goal only minutes after Arsenal had cut the deficit.

Dortmund hosts Roma on Aug. 15 and then faces Bayern Munich in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup on Aug. 22. Those games will provide a more demanding measure of whether the young scorers can keep their place in Kovač’s plans. Sunday’s match was the first meeting between Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund since 2014, after six Champions League group-stage encounters from 2011 through 2014. Twelve years later, Dortmund returned to north London and left with a narrow victory built around the youngest scorers on the field.

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