Barnet 1 - 2 Arsenal Highlights / Alonso

Arsenal got off to a winning start in their annual pre season opener against Barnet at Underhill.

Aaron Ramsey was given his debut along side denilson, while there was also a surprise start for midfielder Henri Lansbury. Theo and Niklas Bendtner lead the line upfront.

The away side struck first with Kenny Gillet's 25-yard freekick beating Manuel Almunia at his near post. Needless to say the Spaniard should have done a lot better.

Arsenal, captained by Clichy found it difficult to respond and despite Ramsey showing glimpses, the fact that this was the gunners' first game since the holidays was proving evident during the rest of the first half.

The second half brought about eleven changes from Arsenal, (yes, the whole team) as the Arsenal third string (if you like) were introduced. The game suddenly bounced into life with the introduction of the youngsters, with Jay Simpson, Mark Randall, Nacer Barazite, Jack Wilshire and new boy Francis Coquelin amongst those who came on.

Simpson impressed with his pace and strength, and it didn't take the former Milwall loanee to put Arsenal back on level terms. He cleverly latched on to Wilshire's through ball and sent his shot wide of Bees keeper Lee Harrison. 1-1.

Arsenal began to take control and it was Wilshire again at the heart of another move which gave Arsenal the lead on 73 mins. The youngster was strong in the challenge before sending Simpson clear on the right. The striker showed his unselfishness and awareness to square the ball left to Barazite and the dutchman made no mistake calmly passed the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net, past Harrison and in off the post.

A good workout without doubt and the Arsenal lads will be looking to get their fitness levels up, with their next challenge coming in Austria against Szombathelyi H. Good thing I'm typing that and not saying it...

After the game the boss confirmed he wants to bring in a maximum of two more players to the squad, hinting one would bring experience:

“It could happen [a new signing], yes, one, maybe two maximum, but one certainly.

“I cannot give you any names but we still think to bring one player in.”

Looks like a deal could be wrapped with Wenger sounding so confident but for who is the question. Reports this morning suggest Robbie Keane is 48 hours away from moving to Liverpool which would mean the Anfield outfit would have to sell Xabi Alonso to raise the funds to have any hope of signing Gareth Barry. My money is on Alonso signing for Arsenal.

Highlights of todays game below: