Eddie Nketiah's final rehearsal for his two-to-three-month run as Arsenal's leading man ended flatly as the striker missed a golden opportunity.
All eyes will be on the 23-year-old in the coming weeks as he stands in for the injured Gabriel Jesus. And the big question is whether he can score the goals that will help keep the Gunners on top of the Premier League. He had done all right in Arsenal ’s previous two friendlies, scoring in the wins against Lyon and AC Milan in Dubai.
But in front of 32,000-odd Gooners back on home soil, he fluffed his lines with a dreadful miss, hitting the post after Juventus starlet Fabio Miretti’s appalling back pass presented him with a chance which looked far easier to score than miss.
That wasted chance combined with Granit Xhaka's headed own-goal in first-half added time and a late strike from England Under-20 international Samuel Iling-Junior, which deflected off Rob Holding, to hand Mikel Arteta's men a defeat in their final tune-up before they return to domestic action on Boxing Day.
Time will tell just how badly Arsenal, who are five points clear of defending champions Manchester City with 14 games gone, will miss Jesus when the real action resumes. But former England under-21 international Nketiah has a real chance to make a name for himself if he can at least help keep them in amongst all the title chatter by the time the Brazilian returns.
And a goal against the Italian giants would have given his confidence another shot in the arm, with West Ham's visit only eight days away. Jesus is understood to be responding well to treatment but Arsenal remain cautious about putting any timescale on his recovery.
On a positive note for the Gunners, however, Arteta will have been pleased to get minutes into Xhaka and Aaron Ramsdale following their returns from the World Cup. Ben White, who left the England camp for personal reasons, got another 45-plus minutes under his belt as well.
White and Ramsdale’s Three Lions team-mate Bukayo Saka is expected back at Arsenal’s Hertfordshire training base this week after some time off, as is Brazil's Gabriel Martinelli. Oleksandr Zinchenko is also expected to be fit to face the Hammers in eight days’ time after overcoming a calf problem.
One man who might struggle to make the squad is Reiss Nelson, who left the field midway through the first half against Juve after pulling up with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.
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He only lasted 22 minutes and this game — which had all the tempo, or lack thereof, that you’d expect of a midseason friendly — might have gone much differently had the Arsenal man found the net instead of the near-side-netting with a fierce low shot after just 43 seconds.
There was a brief scare when defender Gabriel got a whack on the head midway through the second half but the big Brazilian shook it off. And fellow central defender Holding left the pitch with a headache after Iling-Junior, on as a substitute, fired home a shot with the help of a deflection off him.
