Gabriel Jesus scored the opening goal for Gunners
Gabriel Jesus scored his fourth goal of the preseason to give us the early lead in this Florida Cup match as we sought to seize control.
A well-deserved victory over Chelsea was the ideal way to round off a fruitful preseason trip of the United States.
After the break, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka both scored a goal,
and Sambi Lokonga added a late fourth to give us a score that was appropriate for our performance.
In the third and last game of the tour, we came out strong and after just five minutes,
we had our first clean chance.
Watch goals of Arsenal huge win!!
Gabriel Martinelli, who was defending a corner,
stole the ball on the edge of his own box and ran forward on the counterattack, eerily emulating his celebrated goal at Stamford Bridge in January 2020.
However, this time he chose to pass to Saka on the overlap,
and Edouard Mendy blocked his shot.
In the opening exchanges, we kept an eye out for the more likely goal scorers. On his debut outing for us,
Oleksandr Zinchenko was moving forward well on the left and had a shot blocked when he found space inside the box.
But soon after, we did score, and what a finish it was. Our pressure had paid off.
Jesus moved on the goalkeeper and easily dinked the ball over him for the game’s first goal after Granit Xhaka delivered a first-time pass into his direction.
The second goal was also accomplished with skill.
Just as Odegaard was about to make his run into the box,
Martinelli let go of the ball and slipped it into his path.
The remainder was completed by the skipper, who slid his shot low into the corner.
In the first half, all traffic was going one way. The following player to come near was Thomas Partey, who missed a 20-yard field goal attempt.
With some fantastic one-touch passing and flicks, Odegaard, Saka,
and Jesus were starting to enjoy themselves, much to the pleasure of the loud Arsenal supporters at the 63,000-seat Camping World Stadium in Florida,
which was sold out and set a new attendance record.
Chelsea came so close to regaining the lead before halftime despite our domination in the first 45 minutes,
but Mason Mount’s shot hit the upright.
In the second half, we maintained our pace,
and just past the hour mark, we made it 3-0.
After Martinelli’s volley was stopped by Mendy diving, the ball fell to Granit Xhaka,
who flipped it up and then fired another shot at the Chelsea goalkeeper. But third time lucky, as Saka slammed the rebound into the net’s ceiling.
Sambi Lokonga was one of several players Mikel Arteta brought on late to give the team more playing time,
and he got in on the action with a cool-headed goal at the far post to seal a convincing victory.
After the final horn, we were given the Florida Cup, capping off a spectacular 10-day trip to America.
SQUAD NEWS
Oleksandr Zinchenko’s selection,
which came just a day after he finished his transfer from Manchester City, made headlines before to the game’s start. In a solid-looking lineup for our final game of our USA Tour, he started at left back.
The other summer signing to make his debut was Gabriel Jesus,
who was backed up front by Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard, and Bukayo Saka.
Ben White began at right back, Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey were paired in midfield,
while William Saliba and Gabriel made up the centre of the back four. Starting in net was Aaron Ramsdale.
WHAT COMES UP
After the final horn,
the club immediately took a flight back home to prepare for another week of preseason practise in London Colney before the Emirates Cup match against Sevilla the following Saturday.
Our final exhibition game before the start of the Premier League season on Friday,
August 5, away at Crystal Palace, is scheduled to begin at 12.30 p.m.
At the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, ARSENAL defeated London rivals Chelsea 4-0.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, a summer acquisition for the Gunners, made his debut,
whereas Raheem Sterling made his first start and Kalidou Koulibaly came off the bench for the Blues.
Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard scored goals for the North Londoners in the first half,
and Bukayo Saka and Albert Sambi Lokonga added the finishing touches in the second.