Arsenal defeat Barcelona in eight-goal thriller
Jul 27, 2023
California [US], July 27 : In the Soccer Champions Tour in the US, Arsenal defeated Barcelona 5-3 at the SoFi stadium in Inglewood on Thursday.
Arsenal's youngsters scored five goals. Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Fabio Vieira scored one goal each. Leandro Trossard scored a brace.
For Barcelona, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Ferran Torres were on the scoresheet.
Barcelona opened the scoring in the seventh minute of the match. Striker Robert Lewandowski put the ball past Arsenal's goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal wasted no time as Bukayo Saka scored just after five minutes.
After the half-hour mark, Barcelona were awarded a free-kick just outside the 18-yard box. Brazilian national Raphinha stepped up to take the freekick. He struck the ball and it got deflected by Arsenal's defender and the ball found its way in the back of the net again.
Raphinha scored Barca's second goal in the 34th minute.
Arsenal was taking no prisoners as they bounced back again. In the 43rd minute of the match, Arsenal's new signing Kai Havertz scored and the score was level again 2-2.
Both teams headed into the dressing room with a scoreline of 2-2.
In the second half, Arsenal started on a high tempo. In the 55th minute, Arsenal's Leoandro Trossard scored a goal and gave his side a one-goal lead.
Arsenal were dominating with their attacking style of play. In the 78th minute of the match, Leoandro Trossard scored again and doubled Arsenal's lead.
Barcelona tried their best to come back into the game. In the 88th minute, Ferran Torres scored a goal to give Barcelona some hope as the scoreline was 4-3.
But Fabio Vieira shattered all hopes of Barcelona as he scored Arsenal's fifth goal of the night in the 89th minute.
After the final whistle, the scoreline was 5-3 with Arsenal winning the match.
Arsenal took 20 shots out of which nine were on target. Their possession on the ball was 40 per cent. Arsenal completed 285 passes with an accuracy of 82 per cent.
Arsenal conceded 22 fouls and received three yellow cards.
Barcelona took nine shots out of which four were on target. Their possession on the ball during the game was 60 per cent. Barca completed 422 passes with an accuracy of 86 per cent.
Barcelona committed 12 fouls and received one yellow card.
In the pre-season tour, Barcelona will be facing Real Madrid on July 30 and AC Milan on August 2.
