PL friendlies: Pedro scores elegant goal; CONCACAF stars Pulisic, Davies deliver

By Nicholas MendolaJul 31, 2019, 5:05 PM EDT
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images for AUDI
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It was a day for the stars of CONCACAF, with USMNT wizard Christian Pulisic and Canadian playmaker Alphonso Davies both having fine days for Chelsea and Bayern Munich, respectively.

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It was also a day short on defense, with nary a clean sheet to be found as Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea got on the board while conceding as well.

Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 (6-5 on pens.) Bayern Munich

Spurs have won the Audi Cup despite the best efforts of Canadian phenom Alphonso Davies, who scored what the kids call “a banger” to get the match to extra time.

Fellow young talent Jann Fiete-Arp also scored as Bayern erased a 2-0 deficit produced by Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela (Harry Kane and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou provided the assists.

Angers 1-1 Arsenal

Reiss Nelson pasted a Eddie Nketiah rebound home to give Arsenal a draw in France, where Farid El Malali had put Angers in front.

Liverpool 3-1 Lyon

A win is a win, even a sloppy one. The reigning Champions League winners got a nice victory in Geneva against good Ligue 1 opposition, with Harry Wilson and Roberto Firmino joining an own goal on the Liverpool side of the ledger.

The Reds went behind 1-0 when Alisson dropped a cross and was forced to concede a penalty.

Liverpool won for the first time in five friendlies. It’s now five matches without a clean sheet for the Reds, who were oh-so-stingy last season.

Red Bull Salzburg 3-5 Chelsea

Pulisic had a wonderful day, scoring two goals and winning a penalty for a third in the first half-hour of the match. Ross Barkley had a goal and an assist, while Pedro and Michy Batshuayi also scored in a defense-starved match.

Pedro’s goal was simply wonderful, the hit of the day on an afternoon with several beauties.