[Goals & match report] Arsenal 1-0 VfL Wolfsburg: Walcott nets winner as Emirates Cup returns home

Arsenal won the Emirates Cup for the first time since 2010 after Theo Walcott netted the winner in an otherwise dire game against VfL Wolfsburg at the Emirates Stadium.

We started off sluggish in the opening exchanges and Wolfsburg won a number of corners in the first half as our defence was given a stern examination by the Bundesliga runners-up.

A back four of Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers, Gabriel, and Nacho Monreal stood tall, with the quartet marshalled by Petr Cech who was making his home debut.

We finally sparked into left during the latter stages of the first half as Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott combined with the latter side-footing his effort straight at the goalkeeper.

Walcott should’ve squared it Ozil who made a clever run through the middle and was ready to tap the ball home.

Jeff Reine-Adelaide was certainly the star of the first half with the some lovely touches and, on one occasion, completely bamboozled former Chelsea man Kevin De Bruyne.

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At the interval, Chuba Akpom was introduced in place of Ozil and we saw a reshuffle in our forward line. Walcott moved out to the right with Jack Wilshere coming into a central role – it would prove critical for our opening goal.

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Adelaide found himself in the middle for a brief moment and after drifting past a tackle, he found Walcott with a lovely reversed pass and the England man finished off the move calmly.

Chances were few and far between after the goal, with the boss ringing the changes in the second half.

Santi Cazorla went close with a free-kick, but ultimately the game petered out following a strong defensive display during the final minutes of the game.

The team lifts our second trophy before the season starts and while it will count for very little, confidence is certainly sky-high.