Arsenal beat Barcelona amicably 5-3 in an interesting match

Belgian forward Leandro Trossard scored twice in the second half, leading Arsenal to a thrilling 5-3 victory against Spanish champions Barcelona in a friendly match on Wednesday in Los Angeles, as both teams prepare for the new season.

Trossard found the net in the 55th and 78th minutes, securing an exciting win for the English Premier League runners-up at the impressive "SoFi Stadium" in Inglewood, in front of 70,000 spectators.

The match was delayed by nearly half an hour as the London club's bus got stuck in traffic on its way to the stadium.

Barcelona entered the game after canceling their friendly match against Juventus last Saturday in San Francisco, due to stomach and intestinal inflammation among the Catalan club's players.

As for Arsenal, they entered the encounter following a 2-0 loss against Manchester United last Saturday in New York.

Both teams fielded strong lineups, with Barcelona taking the lead early on when Moroccan Abdel Samad Al-Zlazuli snatched the ball from the opponent and embarked on an impressive run down the left flank into the penalty area, passing to Brazilian Rafinha whose shot was saved by goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, only for the ball to reach Polish striker Robert Lewandowski who slotted it into the net.

However, the men of Spanish coach Mikel Arteta quickly equalized as Bukayo Saka capitalized on a poor touch by Danish defender Andreas Christensen, snatched the ball, and scored (13).

English international Bukayo Saka missed an opportunity to give Arsenal the lead when he failed to convert a penalty, sending the ball wide next to the post after Uruguayan Ronald Araujo handled the ball.

Xavi Hernandez's men regained the lead after the ball rebounded from a free-kick taken by Rafinha off Danish player Martin Odegaard, changing its trajectory and deceiving Ramsdale (34).

Just before the end of the first half, Odegaard redeemed himself as he headed the ball, delivered by Saka, to German newcomer Kai Havertz in front of the goal, and he converted it into the net.

Arsenal dominated most of the second half, and Trossard gave his team the lead with a low left-footed shot from inside the box (55), before adding the second with a pass from Ben White into the area (78).

Ferran Torres gave Barcelona hope by reducing the deficit two minutes before the end with a low shot from inside the box, but Portuguese player Fabio Vieira quickly responded with a fantastic left-footed shot from outside the box that found the top right corner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP