Preseason Friendly – Arsenal vs Barcelona – Match Report
Arsenal registered a convincing victory over Barcelona in a high scoring encounter at the pre season friendly match held at the SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, USA. The match was more or less an evenly poised one with each of the two sides making it difficult for their opponent to strengthen their chances of overtaking the other.
Though Barcelona had more possession of the ball, the side failed to create more chances than their opponent which lead to their defeat to a great extent. Arsenal on the other hand made sure that they didn’t let go majority of their chances to waste as they emerged victorious at full time.
The game began with each of the two sides seeking opportunities to attack the opponent net continuously right from the start. Barcelona struck first with just 7 minutes on the clock as Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring with a fiersome strike.
His left footed shot from the centre of the box was lashed into the top centre of th goal. It didn’t take long for Arsenal to level the scores as they made it 1-1 at the 13th minute. Bukayo Sala stood up to the task as he smashed in a fine shot from the inside edge of the box to find the bottom right corner. Arsenal had a chance to take the lead when they were awarded a penalty in the 22nd minute.
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Bukayo saka however squandered the opportunity as he missed the spot kick from 12 yards when his left footed shot stayed wide of the right corner. Barcelona took the advantage and score their second to take the lead again at the 34th minute. Raphinha’s brilliant free kick ended up in the bottom left corner. Arsenal did level the scores before the end of first half.
A fine cross chipped into the box found Odegaard whose header fell into the path of Havertz, as the German international scored from close range.
The second half saw some serious sort of resurgance of Arsenal’s attack as they took the lead in the 55th minute. Leandro Trossard recieved the ball following a long ball from Arsenal’s half of play. The Belgian did well to initiate a few stepovers and followed it up with a sizzling shot through the defenders to score precisely.
He scored again in the 78th minute thanks to some brilliant forward play by Arsenal. Kieran Tierney’s ball in the box was smashed in past Pena for Arsenal’s fourth. Barca managed to pull one back in the 87th minute when Ferran torres scored following a defensive lapse at the back from Arsenal.
Arsenal however had the last laugh as they wrapped up the game with a goal in the 89th minute. Fabio Viera scored a beautiful long ranger as he curled in a shot into the top left corner. FT:- Arsenal 5-3 Barcelona.
