AS Roma
This game took place at Kapfenberg, Austria, on Thursday 1st August at 9pm as part of the club's pre-season friendly fixtures.
Final result was 2-1 (the game lasted 45 minutes and was part of a three team tournament), this win gave us the trophy. Arsenal's goals came from Thierry Henry & Jeremie Aliadiere.
The offical report from Arsenal.com: "The trophy cabinet will have to be re-arranged again following our triumph in this mini-tournament in Kapfenberg, Austria. Having beaten Panathinaikos 1-0 earlier in the evening, it was winner-takes-all against Italian giants AS Roma. And despite the appearance of world famous stars such as Walter Samuel, Damiano Tomassi, Emerson and Gabriel Batistuta, the Romans could not prevent us from lifting the silverware yet again. And it is becoming a welcome habit for new signing Gilberto Silva who was celebrating again just weeks after winning the World Cup with Brazil. Silva played another full game after making his debut against Panathinaikos and turned in another stylish display. He was joined in midfield by Patrick Vieira and fellow Brazilian Edu, while Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord formed a strong attack partnership. And Henry wasted no time in putting his name on the scoresheet as we went ahead inside four minutes. Silva showed that he is ready for the physical demands of the Premiership by winning a strong tackle in midfield to gain possession in the final third of the pitch. A quick pass to Wiltord created the opening and Henry was on hand to head the pinpoint cross into the net from close range. Henry almost added a second with a powerful free-kick, but goalkeeper Carlo Zotti was well placed to cover the effort. Roma thought they had grabbed an equaliser on 17 minutes when Antonio Cassano was released deep inside the box and delicately chipped Stuart Taylor. However, the ball hit the bar, bounced down onto the line and was then acrobatically cleared by left-back Kolo Toure as we held onto the lead. Vieira and Batistuta both went close, before Roma finally found a way through to make it 1-1. Taylor produced an excellent block from Walter Samuel's powerful shot, but the ball fell kindly for Batistuta who side-footed into the empty net from 10 yards. The match - and the tournament - seemed to be heading for penalties, but young French striker Jeremie Aliadiere came off the bench and scored the winner in the dying minutes. Vieira and Henry combined brilliantly down the left-hand side to wrong-foot the Italian defence and when the cross was not cleared, Aliadiere was on hand to swivel and fire the ball in from close range. The celebrations were soon in full swing and long may they continue as the season progresses."
