Stop that right now
Gabriel Jesus scored the pick of the bunch with an outrageous finish as Arsenal cruised to a record-breaking 5-0 win against an MLS All-Star XI.
Mikel Arteta’s side stepped up their pre-season preparations against a collection of the best players from the MLS, which included the likes of Christian Benteke, Riqui Puig and were managed by Wayne Rooney.
The Gunners were far too strong for their opponents and asserted their dominance on the game with the pick of the goals in the fifth minutes as Jesus received the ball from Bukayo Saka before effortlessly chipping the ball over the hapless Roman Burki.
Arsenal then went into cruise control and wrapped up the tie thanks to further goals from Leandro Trossard, Jorginho, Gabriel Martinelli and a first strike for new signing, Kai Havertz.
Havertz was heavily mocked before the game after his performance in the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, where he failed to score a single point but took his goal extremely well with a fierce half-volley.
Their win was also the biggest victory by any guest team in an MLS All-Star game.
Fellow new signings Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice also featured for the Gunners and Arteta revealed that he was pleased with what he saw from his side in Washington.
Speaking to the club website, he said: “It was a great occasion and a great atmosphere. It was great to see so many Arsenal supporters filling the stadium.
“We had some great moments in the game and some moments, especially in the first-half that weren’t that great, but we’re still very early in pre-season and it was great to see some debuts with Jurrien [Timber] , Auston [Trusty] and Declan [Rice] obviously, and I was really pleased in the end with the result.”
Related links:
- Graeme Souness doubles down on Declan Rice criticism
- Wayne Rooney admits to using Football Manager to sign players at D.C United
- MLS tweets picture of Alvaro Arbeloa instead of Sergio Busquets
