Jak Netting

Following last week’s 1-1 draw in their first pre-season outing, against FC Nürnberg in Germany, Arsenal have travelled state-side to continue their preparations for the upcoming seasons, with a tour of the United States. The tour sees them face Premier League rivals Manchester United as well as Barcelona in New York and Los Angeles respectively – but not before tonight’s fixture. It isn’t the first time that Arsenal have featured as the challengers in the MLS All-Star fixture, however, as they did so previously in 2016, a game in which the Gunners won 2-1 thanks to a late strike from Chuba Akpom. Tonight’s challenge represents the 27th instalment of the fixture, and having won the last 2 all-star games, the MLS side certainly won’t go down without a fight.

FUN FACT!

Arsenal are the only London club to have won an MLS All-Stars game. West Ham United, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur have all lost once in the game, and Chelsea have lost twice, making them the only club to have lost the game on multiple occasions.

Team News

Mikel Arteta made just 2 changes to his Arsenal side tonight after last week’s game, with Jorginho and Gabriel Jesus coming into the starting lineup in place of Thomas Partey and Reiss Nelson. Partey has only just arrived in Washington DC, hence his omission from the squad and Nelson, who recently signed a new contract with the Gunners, has picked up an injury and misses the club’s pre-season tour. Some will be breathing a sigh of relief to see Jesus in the lineup, after footage emerged yesterday of him limping away from training and receiving treatment – though this was clearly nothing significant. Elsewhere, fans will be excited to see Jurrien Timber and record signing Declan Rice make the bench – with both poised to make a first appearance for their new club. After an impressive display last time out, Jakub Kiwior will be looking to build towards consolidating a starting spot as an inverted full back in Arteta’s system. Meanwhile on the other side, Ben White will be looking to maintain his strong partnership with Bukayo Saka, especially with the added competition of Jurrien Timber.

First Half

The MLS All-Stars kicked off and attacked right from the off, creating some early problems for the young Arsenal side. It was glaringly evident from the opening exchanges that most players in the All-Star side are midway through their season, whereas Arsenal had so far played barely 90 minutes of pre-season. But despite some sloppy changing of possession, Arsenal were able to comfortably deal with the All-Stars’ threat and grew into the game incredibly quickly. Saka made a great run down the wing in the 5th minute and the ball fell to Jesus who curled a long-range effort into the far left corner to open the scoring, 2 minutes sooner than they managed against FC Nürnberg. Arsenal responded well to taking the lead and immediately showed an eagerness to attack once more, though the All-Stars held strong in defence. Saka made another great run into the box just 6 minutes after his role in the opener, but his attempt at a cross was blocked and posed little threat. The hosts instantly took the ball down the other end and Ricard Puig had space on the edge of the area, but chose to offload it to Christian Benteke who was wide open in the box. Unfortunately for the 32-year-old Belgian, however, his touch did nothing to control the ball and it instead bobbled behind for a goal kick. A quarter of an hour into the game Eddie Nketiah came close to doubling the Gunners’ lead after some superb linkup play with Leandro Trossard in the box, but his effort was blocked behind for a corner, which ultimately amounted to nothing.

The All-Stars were down but certainly not out as they looked to level the game. They thought they had found a path to do so via Puig who looked certain to score if not for a terrific block from William Saliba. It had felt like a very physical game so far, and the referee seemingly agreed with this notion by handing out a second booking in just the 18th minute – proving that it is a friendly in name only. The All-Stars could do little to contain the Premier League runners up, however, who doubled their lead in the 23rd minute after another wonder-goal – this time by Trossard. It was a wonderfully worked goal as Saka beat his man before playing it off to Trossard who spun away from the defender, onto his right foot, and placed it into the top right corner from outside the box. Following this goal there was a noticeable drop-off from the American outfit, who didn’t have another chance until almost 10 minutes later when Aaron Ramsdale was forced into a good save which gave the home side a corner. The corner looked destined for the goal but blasted just inches wide of the post, to maintain the 2 goal advantage for the Gunners.

The Washington DC heat and humidity had clearly taken its toll and we stopped for a drinks break in the 32nd minute – which coincided with 6 early substitutes from All-Stars manager Wayne Rooney. The visitors had an injury scare soon after when Fabio Vieira went down but thankfully, after a brief period of treatment, he was able to continue. After the accumulation of bookings, goals and the drinks break, there were 6 minutes added on in the first half – perhaps an insight into FIFA’s new rules which will soon take effect in the Premier League. By this point, Arsenal were well on top and showing their superiority over the MLS’s elite, and yet another free kick gave them a chance to make it 3 – after Thiago Almada was booked for taking out Nketiah from behind. Trossard took it and came close but it wasn’t to be. That looked to be it for the first half, but there was still enough time for another booking – the 4th for the All-Stars and 5th overall. With that, the referee bought the first half’s proceedings to an end, with Arsenal leading 2-0. Honourable mentions for the first half have to go to Saka, Trossard and Saliba, who were all absolutely exceptional – a cruel reminder of what could have been last season if not for Saliba’s injury.

Half Time | MLS All Stars 0-2 Arsenal

Second Half

Arsenal made their first changes of the evening as Kai Havertz and Karl Hein replaced Saka and Ramsdale. Martin Ødegaard also came on for Nketiah after pulling out of the lineup last week through injury. Meanwhile Wayne Rooney opted for another 5 changes – now switching to an entirely new 11 from those who started the match. After a compelling opening 45 minutes it was a dream start to the second half for Arsenal – who won a penalty just 17 seconds into the half after a blatant handball inside the area. Jorginho stepped up to take and, after wrong-footing the keeper with his trademark hop, slotted the ball home to the keeper’s left to widen their advantage to 3. Having seemingly killed any chance of a comeback for the hosts, Arsenal took their control to another gear with attack after attack following their 3rd goal. Their joy was short-lived, however, as Trossard went down in the 52nd minute and looked to be in some significant discomfort before being eventually replaced by Gabriel Martinelli. There was another VAR review for a potential handball in the 62nd minute, but the referee stuck with his initial decision and opted against a penalty, which was somewhat refreshing and the right call in my opinion.

Following this decision Arsenal made a further 6 changes which saw Saliba, Kiwior, Jorginho, Jesus, Gabriel and Vieira replaced by Timber, Kieran Tierney, Declan Rice, Florian Balogun, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Marquinhos. This gave hotly anticipated debuts to both Timber and Rice, something of a reward for Arsenal fans in the UK who stayed up until gone 3am to witness the moment. Just minutes later, after a wasted counter attack for the hosts, the All-Stars made another 6 changes, taking them to 17 changes in all, reminding us that this is very much an exhibition game after all. Despite trailing 3-0, the constant flurry of substitutions meant that the All-Stars were still looking to impress and they created a number of promising chances but failed to ever really threaten the goal. The Gunners worked a beautiful chance after passes between Rice, Timber and Marquinhos which found Martinelli at the back-post, but his effort was blazed over the bar. Another drinks break followed, due to the persisting humidity, which allowed home-boy Auston Trusty to come on for White in the 80th minute.

As the clock was ticking closer towards full time, the All Stars’ chances seemed to get increasingly desperate, still with no sign of penetrating the now much-changed Arsenal defence. As it would transpire, they had every right to be getting desperate as a superb ball from well within his own half by Ødegaard put Martinelli through 1-on-1, and he placed the ball past the keeper to make it 4-0 – in what was an incredibly calm and collected finish. It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the hosts, however, as they managed their first shot on target in the 86th minute. Their elation was likely short-lived however as Arsenal new boy Kai Havertz got his first goal for the club after controlling a fine cross from Marquinhos to score on the half volley. The referee indicated another injury time period of 6 minutes, much because of the same reasons as previously mentioned. With the scoreline sitting at a comfortable 5-0, however, it felt much like a formality at this stage. With little drama in the remaining moments, the referee drew the evening to an end, with the score remaining 5-0.

Full Time | MLS All-Stars 0-5 Arsenal

Summary

This win is a record-breaking one for the Gunners, as it is the joint largest winning margin of any team in an MLS All-Stars game, and the highest by any foreign opposition. As for the game itself, it was a dominant display by Arsenal despite a few shaky moments early on and lapses of concentration in possession in the first half, which is to be expected at this early stage of pre-season. The result never looked in doubt and was more than merited.

The standouts of the game for me were Saka, Saliba and Timber who were all superb but also Havertz who, after failing to score a single goal in the volley challenge last night, perfectly dispatched a half-volley under pressure to open his Arsenal goal-scoring account. Timber’s energy and all round play as an inverted full-back was admirable and certainly a promising sign for Arsenal fans. Declan Rice’s debut was also a great moment, and he didn’t step a foot wrong during his cameo. We have to give another special mention for Trossard and Jesus too, whose goals were simply out of this world.

It’s a quick turnaround for Mikel Arteta and his side as they travel north to New York where they face Manchester United on Saturday evening at the MetLife Stadium before jetting out to California to face-off against Barcelona. The season is rapidly approaching and performances like this will make fans and players alike increasingly confident of another successful season.