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Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal squad will depart Hong Kong on Friday on the back of a 1-0 loss against north London rivals Tottenham. Pape Matar Sarr's strike from distance proved to be the decisive goal in the contest as Thomas Frank's team held on for victory at Kai Tak Stadium.
It was indeed the first defeat of Arsenal's summer tour of the Far East after firstly taking in Singapore prior to arriving in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The Gunners were victorious in their first two friendly games in Singapore after registering 1-0 and 3-2 wins over AC Milan and Newcastle United respectively.
They were unable to make it three from three, though, as they just couldn't find a way past Guglielmo Vicario in the Tottenham goal. Martin Odegaard and William Saliba went close in the first half, with Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Zubimendi shooting over the crossbar after the restart.
The tour may have ended on a disappointing note but Arteta and his players can take so many positives from their time in Asia as they build for the new Premier League season. Arsenal were extremely impressive in the win over AC Milan and should have won by more than one goal on the day.
Then in their following match against Newcastle, the fightback was impressive after initially trailing to Anthony Elanga's early strike. Players such as Saliba and Ben White have enjoyed strong tours, with Ethan Nwaneri and Kai Havertz in particular catching the eye in Singapore.
Then there is Max Dowman, the 15-year-old wonderkid who is not even in the final year of high school yet. The teenager has wowed on the club's tour and has left fans desperately wanting more.
Even in a short cameo appearance against Tottenham, Dowman really gave his opponents something to think about in the closing minutes with an extremely bright performance as he took the game to them. Arsenal now have two home friendlies on the agenda against Villarreal and Athletic Club, thus potentially handing the starlet another chance to excite home fans and also give Arteta a big decision heading into the new Premier League season.
Arsenal's new arrivals have also benefitted from the tour and their time away with their new teammates should stand them in good stead going forward. Viktor Gyokeres may have only had a couple of days with the squad but that will only have helped him when it comes to his development at the club.
The Swede wasn't handed his first Arsenal start against Tottenham, instead having to settle for a late introduction 13 minutes from time. No chances fell Gyokeres' way in his limited time on the pitch but Arteta knows "it will be different" when Arsenal play against Villarreal with an increase in minutes to come for the striker and Cristhian Mosquera.
"I'm really happy to have them here. I think they are going to add a lot of value," Arteta told football.london in his post-match press conference. "You see straight away the energy and the quality they are going to bring.
"It was a short one but at least that one is over now and when they play against Villareal now, I’m sure it will be different."
Before talking about Gyokeres, the game and the latest on the injury news, Arteta showed his class by saying a thank you to all for their welcome and support in both Singapore and Hong Kong. He said: "First of all, I would like to thank you for the welcoming. It's been incredible in the last ten days. Just witnessing how big this football club is and the amount of support and love that we had.
"We had very clear objectives, too. One, keep developing our preparation and maximise it every single day to get to a really high level and compete in different contexts in those three matches.
"And the other one was to connect with our people, to get to know again this beautiful culture. And we've certainly done both of them, despite that tonight obviously we got the result that we didn't want."
The result may not have gone Arsenal's way but it shouldn't take away from what has been a very successful tour. Now it is about getting back to winning ways on home soil, increasing Gyokeres and Mosquera's minutes, introducing Noni Madueke to the squad and making sure everything is ready to go come the opening weekend of the Premier League season at Old Trafford.
Arsenal's work in Asia could indeed prove crucial come May when it comes to those major trophies on offer.
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