Just In: Arsenal hit by food poisoning in China

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Arsenal were ravaged by food poisoning in
Shanghai that ruled several key players out of
their pre - season friendly with Bayern Munich
on Wednesday , manager Arsene Wenger said.
Wenger’ s ailing men were outplayed for long
periods by Bayern before salvaging a last- gasp
1 - 1 draw and then winning 3 - 2 on penalties .
But the Frenchman said that the sickness that
had swept the Arsenal camp, coupled with the
severe heat in China and long flights, made
for far - from- ideal preparations for another
taxing campaign .
Wenger was shorn of Olivier Giroud because
of food poisoning , then captain Per
Mertesacker pulled out of the game just
moments before kick - off because he too fell ill
with the same problem .
New signing Sead Kolasinac had to come off
before the break , while substitutes Aaron
Ramsey and Theo Walcott both also felt
unwell .
Arsenal were particularly poor in the first half
in the 36 degrees Celsius ( 97 F ) heat and
Wenger admitted that the extreme conditions
in Shanghai were “ a shock ” after flying in
from Australia , which is in its winter .
“ We worked very hard on Monday and
Tuesday so I was a bit scared that tonight we
could have big problems and in fact in the
first half we suffered a bit , ” said Wenger,
under pressure to get Arsenal back in the
Champions League this season .
“ Ramsey finished the game ( feeling) bad and
Walcott , Kolasinac , Mertesacker, Giroud, they
all had a little food poisoning . ”
Wenger said the Premier League club — who
next travel to Beijing to face Chelsea on
Saturday — did not know what caused the
food poisoning .
Wenger added of the punishing pre - season
schedule that many top European clubs now
undertake to far - flung destinations for
commercial reasons: “ If you ask me is it ideal
physically to prepare ? I ’ d say certainly not .
“ Has it got other advantages ? Yes because we
can meet fans all over the world so that is
very positive and the team bonding is easier
as well because we live together for two
weeks . ”
– ‘ Nightmare ’ –
Reserve goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was the
unlikely hero for Wenger and Arsenal , saving
Juan Bernat ’ s soft spot kick after Gunners
substitute Alex Iwobi nodded in the leveller
right at the end of normal time .
Robert Lewandowski had needed just nine
minutes to fire German champions Bayern
ahead from the penalty spot as they swept
through Arsenal , before Iwobi ’ s late
intervention meant the game went straight to
penalties .
Both sides fielded a mixture of first - team
regulars and reserves , with new Bayern
signing James Rodriguez and new Arsenal
striker Alexandre Lacazette starting.
Wenger’ s team were thrashed 10 - 2 on
aggregate by Bayern last season in the
Champions League and the manager said his
players were still hurting .
“ I don ’ t think this kind of game wipes out
what happened last season , ” said the Arsenal
boss .
“ We will always remember that . We had a
nightmare last season in the second half .
“ But it ’ s still good to win against a team like
Bayern . ”
Bayern play AC Milan in Shenzhen , southern
China , in their next warm - up game on
Saturday .
AFP