DBasia.news – Arsenal met Chelsea in pre-season Florida Cup match at Camping World Stadium.
The Gunners won 4-0 over the Blues made by Thomas Tuchel. The match was originally a trial or a friendly match ahead of the 2022-2023 season, but the London Derby was like a competitive match.
The tempo of the game has gone fast since the first half. Arsenal overwhelmed Chelsea with their pace of play, combined with their short passing and technical quality.
35 minutes in and Arsenal were 2-0 up. The first goal came in the 15th minute when Gabriel Jesus, the Arsenal striker lobbed the ball past Edouard Mendy after receiving an assist from Granit Xhaka. Trevoh Chalobah made a mistake due to being too hasty in passing the ball earlier.
So did the second goal. This time Mendy didn’t take a goal kick well, Thomas Partey grabbed the ball, leading to a quick counter-attack which resulted in Martin Odegaard’s goal, assisted by Gabriel Martinelli. 2-0. Odegaard made good moves from the second line. The score lasted until the first half ended.
In the second half Chelsea tried to get up and pressed more intensely. Tuchel also returned to using a three-back formation. But Arsenal defended well and Chelsea ran out of ideas to score against Aaron Ramsdale’s goal.
The game-killing goal also occurred in the 65th minute. Starting from Bukayo Saka’s movement, the ball was given to Martinelli who kicked the ball and was pushed aside by Mendy, then Xhaka kicked the rebound ball which was again pushed over by Mendy.
Saka grabbed the second rebound and scored a goal, although in the replay he was offside but the goal lasted. 3-0 to Arsenal. Both coaches have made many substitutions and before the game ended, Sambi Lokonga further immersed Chelsea with his goal in the 92nd minute when he received Cedric’s cross. Lokonga was unmarked and free to score goals. The game ended 4-0 for Arsenal to win.
Lineup:
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale (Matt Turner 72′); Oleksandr Zinchenko (Nuno Tavares 46′), William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Ben White (Cedric 72′); Granite Xhaka (Sambi Lokonga 78′), Thomas Partey (Mohamed Elneny 72′); Bukayo Saka (Marquinhos 72′), Martin Odegaard (Ainsley Maitland-Niles 78′), Gabriel Martinelli (Nicolas Pepe 72′); Gabriel Jesus (Eddie Nketiah 56′)
Coach: Mikel Arteta
Chelsea (4-3-3): Edouard Mendy; Emerson (Marcos Alonso 46′), Thiago Silva (Kalidou Koulibaly 73′), Trevoh Chalobah (Malang Sarr 44′), Reece James (Ethan Ampadu 73′); Jorginho (Callum Hudson-Odoi 73′), Conor Gallagher (Mateo Kovacic 46′); Raheem Sterling (Cesar Azpilicueta 46′), Kai Havertz (Michy Batshuayi 63′), Mason Mount (Judge Ziyech 63′); Timo Werner (Christian Pulisic 46′)
Coach: Thomas Tuchel