Arsenal win the Emirates Cup

Arsenal captured the Emirates Cup for the fourth time in five years with a 3-2 victory over Celtic yesterday, a match that could have been 5-0 or 3-3, but one in which Arsenal were in control for most of the proceedings.  Goals from Carlos Vela, Bacary Sagna (who did not know what to do upon scoring), and the ever-improving Samir Nasri put the Gunners up 3-0 before Celtic started to fight their way back into the match.

A silly penalty given away by Wilshere saw Georgios Samaras sky the ball over the top corner, but Celtic poked home their first after three deflections off of Arsenal defenders.  Their second came after Celtic got behind the Arsenal defense on the wing and sent a low cross in which Ki Sung-Yong turned home.  Time expired, though, and Arsenal escaped with the win and the trophy.

The club now has one remaining fixture at Legia Warsaw before the start of the Premier League this coming Sunday correction: two Sundays from now at Anfield.  Cesc Fàbregas and Robin van Persie will not feature in Warsaw, Arsène Wenger stating that they still require rest ahead of the regular season.

In other news, Laurent Koscielny is still considering his options for his international future, eligible to play for both France and Poland.  He would like to play for France if possible, and if he improves as the year goes on, there is no reason he could not be selected.  Thomas Vermaelen has been impressed by the close-marking, quick-footed style of the young defender so far, and here's hoping that as he adjusts to the physical Premier League game Koscielny makes the kind of impact that the Belgian did last autumn.