Izuchukwu Okosi
Premier League runners up Arsenal kicked off their USA pre sesson tour in style early Thursday morning (Wednesday night in the USA) with a record equalling 5-0 win against the MLS All-Stars coached by Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney at the Audi Field in Washington.
Mikel Arteta’s side put on a show at a sold out Audi Field, with five different goalscorers on target during an emphatic success which saw Arsenal match the most goals ever scored by an international side in a game against the All-Stars.
Summer signing Kai Havertz put on a seal on an impressive evening when he thumped in his first goal for the goal, adding to earlier strikes from Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard, Jorginho and Gabriel Martinelli.
It was the perfect end to a great night for Arsenal, with fellow new arrivals Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber also making their first appearances for the club.
Rice, the £105m record signing for the Gunners was introduced in the second half when Arteta made six changes which also included fellow new signing, Jurrien Timber to a, rousing applause from the supporters in the stands.
Jesus opened the scoring early on for the Gunners with an outrageous chip from just outside the box which floated perfectly into the far corner and went in off the post.
Bukayo Saka, who was named the game’s MVP, then set up Trossard who crashed home a brilliant second to double Arsenal’s advantage.
A Jorginho penalty extended the lead further just after half-time before a brilliant Martin Odegaard perfect pass sent Martinelli away and the Brazilian calmly slotted home a fourth.
Havertz then put the seal on an excellent night for Arsenal when he brought down Marquinhos’ cross and lashed a powerful effort home to make it 5-0.
Arsenal’s next pre season friendly is against Premier League rivals, Manchester United on Saturday night at 10pm Nigerian time.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
