Arsenal rounded off their Stateside tour with an impressive 4-0 win against Chelsea at the Camping World Stadium.
Gabriel Jesus continued his hot streak with a fourth goal in as many games to open the scoring. Played in by Xhaka, the Brazilian bore down on goal on the angle before beautifully dinking Edouard Mendy.
Arsenal’s press forces Chelsea into a loose pass, with Granit Xhaka sliding through to Gabriel Jesus, who chips the ball over Mendy to give Arsenal the lead. 😍 #afc pic.twitter.com/BAUew29Puk
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 24, 2022
🍟 @gabrieljesus9 pic.twitter.com/2sIRwxBxHf
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 24, 2022
It didn’t take long for the Gunners to double their lead. Gabriel Martinelli split the Blues’ defence with a perfectly weighted ball and Martin Odegaard took a touch before sliding home.
Gabriel Martinelli slides in Martin Ødegaard, who calmly slots it past Mendy to double Arsenal’s lead. 😍 pic.twitter.com/QUkOYRodkf
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 24, 2022
The goals continued to flow after the break. Saka caused mischief off the right wing before scoring on the rebound after Mendy had parried efforts from both Martinelli and Xhaka.
Bukayo Saka eventually scores the rebound, giving Arsenal a commanding 3-0 lead over Chelsea, after a string of saves from Mendy. 😍 #afc pic.twitter.com/JCVkdtMiyk
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 24, 2022
An unmarked Albert Sambi Lokonga rounded things off in stoppage time heading home Cedric’s cross from the right.
Cedric Soares’ delicious cross is headed home by Albert Sambi Lokonga to make it 4-0, who kisses the Arsenal badge in celebration. 😍 #afc pic.twitter.com/ob7UxuJsMw
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 24, 2022
In front of 63,000 supporters, this was a performance of poise and verve from the Gunners who debuted Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back and saw William Saliba again impress in the centre of defence.
Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said: “As you could see there are a lot of positives to take from the game. The way we played, the intensity we showed, the way we were trying to show who we are as a team. But at the same time, it’s just a test match. Don’t get carried away.
“There are still a lot of things that we have to get better at, and do better. But I think it’s good to get some momentum, finish the tour in the right way, give some enjoyment to our fans and everybody that’s been contributing to make this tour happen. Now it’s time to go back to London, to focus and keep making improvements and steps forwards.”
The Gunners will fly back to the UK today to prepare for next weekend’s Emirates Cup clash with Sevilla. Soon enough, we’ll be at Crystal Palace hoping to hit the ground running in the Premier League.
On we go.
Great result last night! The oppo wasn’t v strong but 4 goals is good against any team and the defence is looking strong. Exciting times!
We can only beat the teams put in front of us. Arguably the weakest team we’ve faced in preseaon but we still beat them comfortably.
It’ll get harder in a couple weeks when we face Crystal Palace, a better-coached team that will play a lot harder than this crew of Willians did.
CP will be fired a reloaded Gunners team. It will be different. I fully expect us to start with a win.
A draw would be disappointing for me.
I don’t think of this as a friendly result. This is just the new reality, we thrash teams now.
Just seems like a great group of lads really enjoying themselves. Long may it continue
True Russ, true. Happy lads intent on not letting anyone spoil their happiness
This has been bugging me a lot.
Is it Johnny “4 Hats” (he’s literally got four hats) or is it Johnny “4” Hats (Johnny is a hat fan)
Or was he the prequel to this cheeky chappie who, as you can see, looked dapper in a hat himself..?
*Anyone born after 1995 can skip straight past this post*
It’s four hats. I know this because it’s a Mighty Boosh reference! Look up ‘Johnny Two Hats’
Tuchel’s post game comments about Chelsea players wanting to leave… the cherry on top!
Is he starting the traditional Chelsea manager 3rd season meltdown? They’ll run out of managers to appoint at some point.
Just rattled that his done Barca’s scouting for them & they’ve not paid him. Always nice to see one of our rivals managers throw his players under the bus 2 weeks before the season starts though
Omari Hutchinson is probably looking at the fine print in his new contract to see if there’s a 14 day cooling off period!
Oh you probably haven’t seen the meltdown on Chelsea Fan TV’s watchalong on YouTube, THAT is definitely the icing on the cake.
Impressive ! Attitude & spirit looks immense !!! Jesus absolutely nailing it !
I want to see how Jesus is on crosses
Nailed it!
This is the type of comment that usually gets crucified
For the first time since RVP left, we have got ourselves a proper striker that will strike fear in opposition defence.
To be fair to Auba, he was the fastest Arsenal player to score 50 goals.
He went off the boil but he was predatory to begin with and really carried a very poor team
A shifting of the guard
Looks very very good
What a cross from Cedric. He is far more effective with a better balanced defence around him.
I’m not going to get overexcited beating that bunch of OAPs, but we’ve got depth, versatility, incisiveness, speed of thought. It’s looking really promising. Jesus is looking like a revelation. I’d like someone to be able to give Saka a rest, but there’s only been positives this preseason. I’m looking at third place in the league this year, and to be closer to pool and city. Good times.
Redrich………I fully agree with your entire post. It’s mature and realistic like Mikel.
I think third is achievable. As for Jesus, he’s barely set foot at the club but so far he’s playing like he’s been here for years.
He might just be the messiah and not a very naughty boy.
If only we had a 70m player who could figure how to play there we’d be good to go.
Or maybe if he gets some consistent game time and some faith shown by the manager he might be able to.
Last season when we were cruising in games and saka was exhausted Pepe barely got a sniff….
This is our previous top goalscorer who only played for half a season when he got that accolade.
I don’t remember us cruising very often..
Best Cedric cross ever??
Believe me when I tell you the best cross Cedric ever made in his arsenal career was when he played left back…and if you’re really follow arsenal matches, you’d know in an instant
Yeah against Southampton at saint mary …..gave it to saka.saka gave to lacazette….
Keep banging them across that often and one’s going to go right eventually.
Oh, and what’s not to love about Granite?
Let’s love him now Gooners.❤️❤️❤️
Helps when there’s actually someone in the box
Was meant for Mkh ^^
I’m partial to some good Marble, myself, but Granite’s fine too, I guess.
Yes, yes, I’ll get me coat
Question: Jesus and Zinchenko both came to the league quite young, do they count as homegrown?
To qualify as homegrown, players have to play for an English team for 3 years before turning 21. Jesus and Zinchenko both arrived at 19 so don’t qualify
Shame, thank you.
Distressing to see how upset Tuchel was by this result. Whining and whingeing about his players and squad.
He is proven to be a one trick pony– much like Conte. Would be a miracle if he is still Chelsea’s coach by the season’s end.
I don’t think the new owners are as ready as Abramovich to pay off very expensive managers every few weeks.
I thought they were catchable for third last year if we could have our big boy pants on and i think they’re weaker this time around so there is hope.
Long may the meltdown continue. We were truly a couple of goals from claiming third place last season but I’ll enjoy this season.
Reverend Kane from Poltergeist.
“Blue is the colour, Carol Anne, football is the game. Carol Anne…..”
I don’t mean to be controversial or anything, just want some thoughts on this. Since edu has come in he has done well and of course he has a huge Brazilian influence, willian, david luiz, Mari etc. I don’t mind it at all, but I would love to hear others thoughts on it from a fan perspective in terms of diversity of recruitment. Looking back on Wenger, he had a French influence which we benefited hugely, he loved Spanish technical players and always respected having an English core like we have now. There’s a huge benefit of having a lot… Read more »
Having worked in the international setup Edu’s knowledge of Brazil and the up and coming youngsters will be vast. He could potentially have targets ready for the next ten years! With Portuguese being his native language too it gives him an edge in that market as well. Essentially we’re like the new Shakhtar Donetsk only with far more financial clout!
There’s no longer any question about “what do Edu do” to quote Blogs.
It’s probably more to do with familiarity than cost if anything, always a huge market for talent in South America. Barca and real Madrid have always scouted there predominantly and if they can find gems like Martinelli or get Alexis Sanchez calibre I’m all for it. Already been linked with raphinha (scored a great goal against RM in their friendly btw), arthur pacqueta etc.
Yes familiarity is definitely part of it but we also have the finances to bring in players like Jesus alongside that.
Further to this point Arteta is a Spanish speaker but slso Catalan so we have that in our favour too. We are also still riding on Wenger’s legacy when it comes to the French market. Saliba is a little too young to remember the Invincibles first hand but would have seen Koscielny, Sagna, Clichy and Giroud etc playing for Arsenal in his late childhood, as well as Henry’s brief return. Wenger also had an influence regarding the German market being from the Alsace region, hence Per, Ozil, Podolski and Mustafi, for better or worse. But again, a clutch of World… Read more »
Yeah actually I’m curious about that, Arteta’s Catalan influence. A lot of people don’t know but he was brought up in la masia (Barca youth set up) before he went for Everton. I always used to think about the parallels of him and Fabregas. But yeah its interesting he hasn’t really used his Spanish influence so far, only Ceballos I think?
Sorry, Ceballos was signed under Emery.
Mikel is basque fyi, started his career playing alongside Xabi Alonso in San Sebastián and only signed for Barca at 15
Yes I know, but he can presumably speak Catalan having been in La Masia.
I didn’t care when we picked up the french lads (and won the World Cup) and I don’t care now they’re Brazilian.
If we’re playing to our strengths with inside knowledge/links to the market, I’m all for it.
Note also that a few years ago a player like Marquinhos would have had to be shipped around Europe before he could get a work permit but now he’s able to join the squad immediately. Same with Martinelli. You only have to look as far back as Wellington Silva to see how this is also working in our favour now.
I didn’t watch the game but can anyone tell me how Marquinhos did when he came on?
To me he was excellent. I thinks he seems ready for cup games and a few chances in PL.
Didn’t have a lot of time so not a lot to go off but, did well, I liked the way he used his body to get past a player a force them to foul him in one instance. I think it was koulibaly correct me if I’m wrong.
That was Alonso
I enjoyed his performance, great energy and good link up. And there’s plenty of games to ease him into the team this season.
He’s stronger than he looks, and seems to be intelligent.
This is off one phase of play where he contested a 50-50 (at best) long ball.
Held Havertz off, with eyes on the ball, good agility to twist and ensure he was favourite to receive. Chelshit player pulled him down.
Fell asleep, before fourth goal. That’s my takeaway. Seems well integrated as well.
Gilberto was hanging about as well.
Some bergkamp level skill from xhaka before Sakas goal
Yeah, even so it was done with his weeker feet.
The changing of the guard, exciting times ahead fellow Gooners
Did anyone notice xhaka before the 3r goal…wow what a control
Sky’s the limit for Martinelli
He was superd. In Jesus words, he is animal!
The guy is a vibe. Too marketing potential as well. Deserves the 11 on his back.
Was going to say after the Everton game, but the guy should be a dog walker. He takes players on a ride, then they lose their bearings or their ankles.
Thanks for visiting the left wing.
Stop-start-stop-turbo-slow-glide-jink…..sooo fluid.
A meaningless result. This was a pre-season friendly against a Chelsea team that looked like they’d all had one beer too many. Arsenal are great in no-pressure games.
Let’s see what happens when the REAL football starts in two weeks’ time. I’ll get excited if we go to Selhurst Park and see off Palace in style.
The new kit’s nice, though.
Not meaningless at all, that was a full strength lineup and the football I saw was arteta ball in full flow. It sets the tone for the season so it’s vital they had the opportunity to test themselves together against Chelsea rather than palace. And Chelsea tried too, but they’re not looking great rn with lack of CBs, an ageing midfield and no striker after Lukaku played them.
Barca are also hijacking all their targets which I find hilarious.
We looked good – like a team that’s played together for a while – pressed well, linked up well, etc. The repetition we get in these actual game situations only helps us. Using the preseason to get the bad habits out of our system so that we are ready on day 1 – with most of our new signings bedded in – is the way to go. I don’t care that it was preseason. I hate Chelsea and I am happy to beat them in any situation. The miserable looks on their miserable faces was the icing on the cake for… Read more »
What are you going on about? I doubt you’d call it meaningless if we had lost the match by the same margin.
Is it just too much dose of negativity or does Fats wants preseason matches cancelled now because they’re ‘meaningless’?
In fairness we beat them twice last season and don’t forget the two FA Cup finals where we were expected to lose but instead stuck it right up their arses.
Insignificant as it may be I’ll take this game over the last pre season friendly where they injured one of our players (sorry but I’ve forgotten who).
Partey it was. That bum Loftus…
That’s it, Loftus Cunt.
Partey, it was
Mate, the whole sceptical negative thing is becoming scratched vinyl already – at least save the doom and gloom for the (hopefully rare) occasions when we get beat.
Fats has a job to do and it entails never being happy about anything except on the odd occasion. He excels at the position and I for one wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s an Arseblog institution.
I’m thinking it’s just an act. I bet in real life Fats is a pleasant chap who loves animals and maybe mans the flower stand at the village fete, but behind the keyboard he takes on a different persona just to rile up all of you.
Or maybe I have it all wrong.
You mean something like a football fan version of the old cliché “wholesome housewife by day – whore by night” type of thing? If so I like your theory.
Fats – the reasonable man by day, disgruntled football fan by night!
I’ll be happy when we win the Premier League again.
No, you’d gripe about not winning Champions’ League too.
That might still be a while but you never know.
figured it out, at last! you’re a chelski fan and the world’s most committed troll
Seeing Skeletor upset is an added bonus to the first goal.
If tuchel is skeletor, does that make Alonso beast man
Teen Wolf
Alonso after Arsenal’s wingers got done with abusing him all night:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FXrj-96tz6k/sddefault.jpg
What a prick that prick is.
Gabriel Jesus just looks right with that Arsenal shirt.
Deep cross, strong far-post header… Eddy and I are like ‘what just happened here?’
Just a friendly but I d rather win 4 nil than lose 4 nil
Any victory over those history-bankrolled wannabes is good.
If we beat them at tiddlywinks, I’d celebrate.
Cheers! 😊
🥂🍾🥂🍾🥂🍾🥂🍾🥂
Chelsea have announced the reliant Robin will be back next season
Just struck me, in the first 11, name one of our players you would trade for one of theirs. Good times! 😀