Goals galore as Gunners rout German champions

Arsenal returned to winning ways in pre-season in emphatic style with the help of three goals in the first 38 minutes of a 4-1 win over reigning German champions Bayer Leverkusen at Emirates Stadium.

Leverkusen’s only defeat of last season was in the Uefa Europa League final to Atalanta and Xabi Alonso’s side had been unbeaten in two matches in their build-up to their title defence, only to fall 2-0 behind after nine minutes.

Oleksandr Zinchenko completed a slick team move to open the scoring in the eighth minute before Leandro Trossard showed clever footwork to slot in a minute later.

A polished pre-season performance 💫 pic.twitter.com/UCHtB47jq1

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 7, 2024

Gabriel Jesus, who has not scored a competitive goal since January, struck from long range to make it 3-0 at the break in a procession for the side hoping to overhaul Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, having pushed the dominant team in English football close in each of the past two seasons.

Kai Havertz’s 21 direct goal involvements in 2023-24 was the most of any Arsenal player aside from Bukayo Saka and the Germany forward tapped in from close range 25 minutes from time for his second goal in two games after finding the net in the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in Philadelphia on Thursday.

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