Arsenal beat MLS All-Stars in San Jose friendly
ByTNT Sports
Updated 29/07/2016 at 08:33 GMT+1
Pre-season friendly, Avaya Stadium, San Jose. MLS All Stars 1 (Drogba 45) Arsenal 2 (Campbell pen 11, Akpom 86)
Arsenal forward Chuba Akpom (32) celebrates his goal during the MLS All-Star game between the MLS All-Star Team and Arsenal at Avaya Stadium
Image credit: Reuters
Chuba Akpom scored an 86th-minute winner, as Arsenal beat the MLS All-Stars 2-1 in their pre-season friendly in California.
The England U-21 striker tapped home Nacho Monreal's cross to secure victory against a United States Major League Soccer representative team that included Champions League winners Andrea Pirlo, Kaka, David Villa and Didier Drogba in their starting XI.
Joel Campbell had given the Gunners the lead from the penalty spot after 11 minutes, the Costa Rican converting after winning the spot-kick himself by drawing a rash challenge from Montreal Impact defender Laurent Ciman.
Joel Campbell had given the Gunners the lead from the penalty spot after 11 minutes, the Costa Rican converting after winning the spot-kick himself by drawing a rash challenge from Montreal Impact defender Laurent Ciman.
But a familiar foe levelled the scores in first-half injury-time, as former Chelsea striker Drogba, who netted 13 goals in 15 games against Arsenal in his two spells at Stamford Bridge, bundled home the equaliser as the Arsenal back four switched off.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made a number of substitutions in the second half, with Granit Xhaka, the £33m signing from Borussia Monchengladbach, making his first appearance for his new side.
And the Gunners' boss will have been impressed by his big-money signing, who linked well with youngsters Chris Willock, Alex Iwobi and Gedion Zelalem, completed 94.2% of his 58 attempted passes, and also forced All-Stars' goalkeeper David Bingham into a smart save with a 71st-minute piledriver.
Arsenal's pre-season continues with a match at LA Galaxy's home, the StubHub Arena, against Mexican side Chivas Guadalajara on Sunday, before the Gunners return to Europe to face Norway's Viking FK in Stavanger on Friday 5 August and Premier League rivals Manchester City two days later in Stockholm.
The North London side, who finished 10 points behind champions Leicester City last season, then start their 2016-17 Premier League campaign against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on 14 August.
KEY MOMENTS
9' – SAVE! Cech does brilliantly to save to his right from dos Santos down the right channel, following an inch-perfect long ball from Pirlo.
10' – PENALTY! Penalty for Arsenal as Joel Campbell goes down under the challenge by Ciman. And a yellow card for the Belgian to boot.
11' – GOAL!MLS All-Stars 0-1 Arsenal. Campbell finds the corner of the net to open the scoring for the Premier League side from the spot.
15' – SAVE! Blake saves from Walcott's weak shot from the edge of the area, when a pass to Campbell was perhaps the better option.
26' – SAVE! Blake makes a brilliant fingertip save to flick Elneny's effort from 25 yards over the bar. Walcott's corner from the left is poor and the All-Stars clear.
45' – GOAL! MLS All-Stars 1-1 Arsenal. Drogba converts at the third attempt after a block by Cech and then by Bielik on the line.
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MLS All-Star Team forward Didier Drogba (11) celebrates with midfielder Giovani Dos Santos (17) and midfielder Kaka (22) after scoring a goal against Arsenal in the first half during the 2016 MLS All-Star Game at Avaya Stadium
Image credit: Reuters
47' - SAVE! Cech makes a fine save to his right from Giovinco after the Italian turns Chambers on the edge of the area.
71' - SAVE! Xhaka's shot is ferocious, but Bingham is behind it all the way and grabs the ball gratefully into his chest.
74 ' - CHANCE! Dempsey gets the ball down the left channel but overhits his cross to Wondolowski.
81' – CHANCE! Wondolowski shoots over from Larin's cut back after Chambers is caught napping down the left flank.
86' - GOAL! MLS All-Stars 1-2 Arsenal. Akpom stabs home from close range from Monreal's low cross from the left.
TALKING POINT - WILL THEO WALCOTT EVER CONVINCE AS A CENTRE FORWARD?
Walcott is desperate to play up front for Arsenal, rather than being shunted wide to the flanks, but the 27-year-old once again showed his limitations as the focal point of a 4-2-3-1 formation against the All-Stars on Thursday evening. He has the pace to terrorise defences, but lacks the poise to finish when through on goal, and his decision-making under pressure remains poor for a player who has played ten seasons of top-flight football.
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Arsenal forward Theo Walcott (14) battlles for the ball with MLS All-Star Team midfielder Giovani Dos Santos (17) during the first half of the 2016 MLS All-Star Game at Avaya Stadium
Image credit: Reuters
There was one telling moment at the start of the second half, when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain floated a perfect cross from the right towards the near post. A true centre-forward would have got in front of his defender to head home - but Walcott just didn't see the opportunity and failed to make the run.
MAN OF THE MATCH - Krystian Bielik (Arsenal)
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is in the market for a central defender after the knee injury to Per Mertesacker that will sideline the German for five months, but Poland Under-18 defender Bielik showed that he has the talent to act as a short-term understudy to the 2014 World Cup winner.
He came through his audition against Drogba, scourge of Arsenal defenders for so long when a Chelsea player, impressively by marrying a strong physical presence with fine positional play.
Inevitably, Drogba netted – he always does against Arsenal – but Bielik will hope that he has given Wenger something to think about ahead of the Gunners' opening Premier League match against Liverpool on 14 August.
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MLS All-Stars forward Didier Drogba (C) struggles to control the ball while holding onto Arsenal defender Krystian Bielik (R) during an MLS All-Star match at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California on July 28, 2016
Image credit: AFP
PLAYER RATINGS
MLS All-Stars: Blake 7, Rosenberry, 7 Ciman 7, Van Damme 7, Acosta 6, Pirlo 7, Beckerman 6, dos Santos 7, Kaka 6, Villa 6, Drogba 6. Subs: Piatti 6,Kljestan 6, Giovinco 7, Waston 6, Vincent 6, Wondolowski 7, Larin 7, Dempsey 6, Trapp 6, Nagbe 6, Diaz 7, Farrell 6, Vincent 6.
Arsenal: Cech 7, Debuchy 6, Holding 7, Bielik 8, Gibbs 7, Coquelin 6, Elneny 6, Campbell 6, Wilshere 6, Oxlade-Chamberlain 6, Walcott.6 Subs: Martinez 6, Bellerín 7, Monreal 7, Chambers 6, Xhaka 7, Zelalem 6, Iwobi 6, Willock 6, Reine-Adelaïde 6, Akpom 7.
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