Friendly Encounters: Barry Booed

Walsall 2 Aston Villa 3
Gareth Barry was booed by Aston Villa fans as Martin O'Neill's men beat Walsall 3-2 at the Bescott Stadium. The wantaway Liverpool target played for an hour, but was roundly heckled by the visiting supporters after a summer spent criticising the club over his switch to Anfield, which has now stalled over the transfer fee. In the match itself, Walsall took the lead on the stroke of half-time through Alex Nicholls, only to see Shaun Maloney level up with a superb free-kick on 62 minutes. Patrick Suffo restored the hosts' lead shortly after, but two goals in the final 10 minutes from Maloney and Wayne Routledge secured an impressive victory for a battling Villa side, who will now be hoping they can put the Barry controversy out of their minds before Saturday's Intertoto tie with Odense.

Next game: Odense (H) Saturday 26th July

Szombethelyi 1 Arsenal 1
Arsenal's first game of their pre-season stay in Austria ended in a draw as they had to come back from behind against Szombethelyi. Arsene Wenger experimented with a mix of experienced and youthful stars as he did against Barnet over the weekend, but it was the hosts who scored first, with Krisztian Kenesei just about hitting the ball over the line despite the best attempts of Gavin Hoyte 24 minutes in. It didn't take long for the Gunners to level up though, as Theo Walcott drove in low to make it 1-1 three minutes from half-time.