Arsenal Claim Thrilling 5-3 Win Over Barcelona in USA Pre-season Friendly: WATCH – News18

Premier League side Arsenal registered an emphatic win over Spanish champions Barcelona at the SoFi Stadium in California on Thursday in the teams’ USA pre-season tour.

Leandro Trossard bagged a brace while Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Fabio Vieira all scored one for the Gunners. Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and  Ferran Torres netted for Barcelona.

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Lewandowski opened the scoring on the day as he found the back of the net in the 7th minute of the game, but the lead did not last very long as Arsenal star boy Saka levelled the game in the 13th minute.

However, Barcelona restored their advantage in the 34th minute as Brazilian winger Raphinha found the net. But, the advantage was nullified by German midfielder Havertz, who came into the Arsenal unit following his transfer from Chelsea, scored a couple of minutes from the interval to even the scores before the teams went into the tunnel.

Xavi opted to field a brand new eleven in the second half as he swapped his entire team for players off the bench.

Arsenal took the lead for the first time in the game as Belgian midfielder Trossard scored his first of the day in the 55th minute to make it 3-2 in Arsenal’s favour, before netting yet another in the 78th minute of the friendly.

Former Manchester City player, Torres cut the two-goal deficit in half in the 88th minute to give Barcelona a chance to level the game, but Arsenal’s Vieira, who had come on to replace Gunners playmaker Martin Odegaard put the result beyond any doubt with his 89th-minute strike.

Barcelona take on rivals Real Madrid on Sunday in their next exhibition fixture, while Arsenal are scheduled to take on Monaco on Wednesday.