The Gunners continued their fine summer by beating rivals Chelsea 4-0 in Florida. Mikel Arteta’s side scored twice in both halves to record yet another impressive win in the midst of a rebuild under the Spaniard.
Star summer signing Gabriel Jesus continued his fine form of late by firing Arsenal ahead in the 15th minute. Granit Xhaka supplied the assist, pouncing on a loose pass out from the back by Trevoh Chalobah and threading the ball through to Jesus, who confidently dinked it over an onrushing Edouard Mendy to put the Gunners ahead.
Martin Odegaard doubled his side’s lead in the 36th minute. The Norwegian burst through a gap in the Chelsea defence collected a through ball from Gabriel Martinelli in his stride, and fired a low shot past Mendy into the far corner.
Mason Mount, meanwhile, came closest to pulling a goal back for the Blues, his shot from the right side of the box cannoning off the post on the stroke of half-time.
Both teams brought in the changes at the interval, but it did little to alter the rhythm of the game. Arsenal went three up in the 66th minute through Bukayo Saka, who, finding himself at the right place at the right time, slammed a loose ball into the roof of the net from close range. Albert Sambi Lokonga headed in the Gunners’ fourth seconds before full-time, completing a memorable rout.
Meanwhile, Barcelona beat their El Clasico rivals Real Madrid by a goal to nil in Las Vegas. Raphinha – who sent a warning to the opponents before kick-off – scored the only goal of the game in the 27th minute, with a stunning hit from outside the box.
The Brazil international brought an aerial ball down with a deft first touch and fired a rocket into the top corner with his second, bringing the Allegiant Stadium to its feet.
