Arsenal's preparations for the resumption of the Premier League campaign suffered a setback on Wednesday afternoon as they were beaten 3-2 by Championship side Brentford at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners, who currently lie ninth in the Premier League table, will resume their campaign following the coronavirus shutdown next Wednesday evening when they travel to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City, which will see Gunners boss Mikel Arteta return to his former stomping ground for the first time since swapping the Etihad for the Emirates back in December.
After comfortably dispatching of Championship strugglers Charlton Athletic at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, winning 6-0, courtesy of goals from Eddie Nketiah (3), Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Joseph Willock, the Gunners stored another 90 valuable minutes under their belts this afternoon.
However, things did not go according to plan for the Gunners, as they were beaten by the odd goal in five by their London rivals in a sparse Emirates Stadium.
According to a report by The Sun, the Gunners' goals came from Lacazette and Willock whilst the visitors found the net through Tariq Fosu, Halil Dervisoglu and Shandon Baptise.
Prior to kick-off, Arsenal's players took a knee to show their support for the Black Lives Matter campaign, following the death of American George Floyd, whose death has sparked reaction right across the globe.
It is reported that Arsenal, whose starting line-up for the game has not been revealed, held a one-goal lead at half time through Willock, before Brentford, who will resume their Championship campaign in just over a week's time, came storming back in the second half to find the back of the net three times.
Though no details on the Gunners' starting line-up have been revealed, Arsenal's club photographer was on hand to capture some of the best snaps from the game, which has shown that Arsenal's squad was certainly not short on quality or experience.
Amongst the senior members of Arsenal's squad to have featured were Hector Bellerin, Bukayo Saka, Dani Ceballos, Mesut Ozil and Aubameyang.
There was also places in the matchday squad for Trae Coyle, who played at the Emirates Stadium for the very first time at senior level, Zech Medley, Matt Smith and Zak Swanson.
Coyle and Smith have been heavily involved with Arteta's first-team squad since the club returned to training last month, with the duo believed to be highly-rated by the Spaniard.
It remains to be seen whether or not the duo will be considered in Arteta's plans for next Wednesday's Premier League return, though with the number of substitutes allowed on the bench having been increased, they do stand a real chance of getting some Premier League experience before the season is out.
