Borussia Dortmund beat Arsenal 3-2 in the Emirates Cup final at Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon to lift the pre-season trophy after a lively encounter that saw five goals shared.
Samuele Inacio fired the visitors into an early lead in the seventh minute, finishing after being set up by Felix Nmecha. Arsenal struggled to find an equaliser before the break despite sustained pressure.
Borussia Dortmund doubled their advantage on 29 minutes when Konstantino Karetsas applied the finish from Daniel Svensson's assist. The goal left Arsenal with a two-goal deficit to chase at half-time.
Arsenal reduced the deficit early in the second half when Ethan Nwaneri struck in the 54th minute. Christos Tzolis provided the assist for his third goal contribution in as many matches.
The one-goal deficit was short-lived as Joane Gadou restored Dortmund's two-goal lead shortly after. His effort came from a goalmouth scramble following a Dortmund corner in the 58th minute.
Arsenal were handed a route back into the contest in the 69th minute after Kaua Prates fouled Tzolis inside the penalty area. Viktor Gyokeres buried the resulting spot-kick into the bottom right to make it 3-2.
Mikel Arteta's side pushed for a late equaliser but could not find a way through in the closing stages. The result meant defeat at home in their final pre-season test at Emirates Stadium.
Irrespective of the result, both teams had agreed to contest a penalty shootout afterwards to get extra spot-kick practice. Arsenal won that shootout 5-4 after a series of composed finishes.
Marcel Sabitzer, Luca Reggiani, Takato Yamamoto and Carney Chukwuemeka scored for Dortmund while Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira and Hincapie converted for Arsenal.
Mathis Albert saw his effort saved by Meslier before Gabriel Martinelli and Nwaneri sealed the shootout win for 5-4.
The defeat closes Arsenal's Emirates Cup campaign, with attention now turning to the start of the competitive season. Dortmund take the trophy after an entertaining final in north London.
