Gabriel Jesus scored his fourth pre-season goal but later went off injured as Arsenal hammered four past Chelsea while in another encounter Erling Haaland scored the only goal in Manchester City 1-0 win over Bayern Munich on Saturday night.
The Gunners capped their tour of America by laying down a marker against their Premier League rivals in front of a record 63,811 fans at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium just two weeks before the new season.Jesus continued his fine pre-season form since signing from Manchester City with a delicate chip over Edouard Mendy to open the scoring after 15 minutes.
Martin Odegaard, having seen his free-kick tipped over by Mendy, then found a way past the Senegal goalkeeper with a low finish from Gabriel Martinelli’s pass. Mason Mount hit a post with Chelsea’s only chance of the first-half as Arsenal’s new signing Oleksandr Zinchenko impressed before being subbed at the break.
Bukayo Saka tapped in a third during the second half from a rebound following Mendy’s save from Granit Xhaka’s volley before Albert Sambi Lokonga added the gloss with an injury-time header.
Chelsea’s new signing Kalidou Koulibaly impressed during a 17-minute cameo but Thomas Tuchel was furious with his side’s worrying display.
Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, has seen Arsenal win all four of their pre-season matches in style although will be hoping the £45m Jesus will be fit for their season opener against Crystal Palace live on Sky Sports after the striker signalled to the bench just before the hour mark that he needed to be substituted.
“He got a knock in the first-half in his quad I think and it wasn’t very comfortable to continue and, obviously, we didn’t take any risks today,” Arteta explained. Arsenal host Sevilla in their final pre-season match at the end of a campaign which has raised hopes among supporters.
Haaland scores on debut for Man City
New signing Erling Haaland is not surprised by his goal on his debut for Manchester City as he has been seeing himself in these kinds of situations.
Haaland made a bang during his debut for City, scoring the game’s only goal after just 11 minutes and 45 seconds on the pitch and helping his side win against Bayern Munich in the pre-season friendly on Saturday night.
The 22-year old, who joined City for 51.2 million pounds from Borussia Dortmund, was helped with a cross from man-of-the-match Jack Grealish, which the Norway international was able to convert from short range. “Of course I have been seeing myself in these kinds of situations so I’m not surprised,” Haaland told Sky Sports.
City boss Pep Guardiola praised Haaland’s instinct but said the forward needed to be handled carefully to aid his return to full fitness. The footballer had earlier missed the first match of City’s US tour, against Mexico’s Club America, with injury niggles.
“He scored a goal, which is important. These types of goals in front of the keeper — always he’s there. The first minutes, he needs more rhythm and time but already he had 45 minutes which is good for him,” Guardiola said.
“We’ll see how he reacts to the niggles that he had in the previous weeks. After we come back we have long weeks to prepare every weekend game. In those two or three weeks we will get the best form,” he added.
The match, held at Wisconsin’s Lambeau Field — home of top NFL team the Green Bay Packers — was delayed for 15 minutes by a thunderstorm, and play was suspended until further notice shortly after Haaland’s goal.
Fans were urged to take shelter on the concourse as lightning descended on the area and players left the field. Officials then announced a reduced game, with 27 minutes left in the first half and a 40-minute second half.
The interruptions appeared to impact both sides’ momentum, with neither managing to clinch another goal over the total of 80 minutes played.
City will now fly back to England and will take on Liverpool in the Community Shield at Leicester’s King Power Stadium on Saturday.
