Emirates Cup 2013: Arsenal Will Snag 4th Tournament Trophy After Opening Draw

The Emirates Cup trophy looks like it’s coming back home in 2013 after Arsenal rallied to force a draw with Napoli on Saturday.

Trailing 2-0 at the half, the Gunners pushed forward and scored the equalizer in the 86th minute on a rebound by Laurent Koscielny.

Despite the draw, Arsenal scored three points in their bid to win their fourth cup in six tries. Standard scoring applies throughout the tournament; however, an additional point is awarded per goal scored, according to rules provided by Arsenal.com.

This isn’t a significant or prestigious tournament—it’s a preseason warm-up. However, it can be a very accurate measuring stick for Arsene Wenger to gauge how far along his club is.

From the early look of things on Saturday, the manager might have wanted to hit the panic button.

Winning the trophy in front of their fans should be an important goal for the hometown side, too. After all, the Emirates Cup has been missing from Emirates Stadium since 2010.

New York Red Bulls captured the last cup trophy in 2011 after winning their opening-round matchup and forcing Arsenal to a draw on their own grass. The tournament wasn’t held during the summer of 2012 due to London hosting the Olympics.

So what is it going to take for Arsenal to bring the trophy home?

While they aren’t currently atop the four-team rankings heading into Sunday, they have an opportunity to win the whole thing. Convincingly defeating Turkish champs Galatasaray on Sunday would likely be enough to make sure they come out on top.

Even doing so, though, might not get it done. If Napoli make a statement against Porto on Sunday, it will be another disappointing Emirates Cup finish for the hosts.

Porto has a promising and young side, though, and despite losing 1-0 to Galatasaray are capable of playing solid football. It’s hard to imagine the Italians walking all over them on Sunday.

In the end, Arsenal has to execute better for 90 minutes if they have any hopes of avoiding an early summer disappointment. Scoring a couple of goals against the Turks while gaining three points from a victory are entirely possible and should be enough to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Like Arsenal, Gala struggled in the first half of their Saturday match and had to rely on a late penalty make to escape with four points. Still, it was more like Porto beat themselves, missing two penalties throughout, than it was Gala imposing their will.

Arsenal have the luxury of playing second again on Sunday, giving themselves a number to aim for before they take the pitch. Their second-half comeback against Napoli will also provide plenty of motivation for the club after nearly being all but embarrassingly eliminated.

An emotionally charged and confident Gunners club on their own pitch simply aren’t a team to bet against.