Arsenal beat Paris Saint-Germain 5-1 in Singapore on Saturday, with Mesut Ozil opening the scoring, Alexandre Lacazette scoring twice then Rob Holding and Eddie Nketiah added a goal each as the Gunners finished their preseason in the Far East in style.
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Unai Emery will have been impressed with his team in their International Champions Cup encounter in front of over 50,000 fans, most of whom were supporting Arsenal, while Thomas Tuchel’s PSG were missing several stars after the World Cup but their youngsters showed flashes of promise throughout.
PSG played well early on but Arsenal took the lead as Ozil, captain for the day, finished calmly from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s cross.
Young midfielder Matteo Guendouzi impressed as Arsenal dominated possession but PSG had some half chances with USMNT teeenager Tim Weah going close twice.
Christopher Nkunku almost scored a beauty as he wriggled free of the Arsenal defense and clipped the crossbar with his effort. Gianluigi Buffon saved well from Aubameyang and the Arsenal striker also had a goal disallowed in an open game.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan should have doubled Arsenal’s lead but hit his shot straight at Buffon. The Gunners almost made it 2-0 before the break as Shkodran Mustafi headed off target.
In the second half substitute goalkeeper Enzo Martinez saved well from Nkunku’s long-range free kick. Then Weah won a penalty kick as his pace saw him glide past Sead Kolasinac who tripped the USMNT forward in the box. Nkunku sent Martinez the wrong way from the spot to make it 1-1.
Arsenal then made plenty of substitutes and they made an instant impact with Emile Smith-Rowe, on his 18th birthday, whipping in a lovely cross to the near post which Lacazette flicked home superbly. Four minutes later it was 3-1 as Lacaztte nodded home off the post to score his second in quick succession.
Weah then caused more problems on the break with his pace over the top but his effort was blocked and then Joseph Willock curled towards the far corner for Arsenal but PSG substitute Sebastien Cibois saved well.
Late on Cibois denied Reiss Nelson well and from the resulting corner Holding crashed home a long-range header into the top corner to make it 4-1, then Nketiah made it 5-1 with the last kick of the game with a fine finish across goal to wrap things up in style.
Next up for Arsenal: an ICC clash against London rivals Chelsea in Dublin on Aug. 1 as Emery continues to prepare for his first season in the English game.
