Young forward Chuba Akpom scored an easy tap-in in the 87th minute to seal a 2-1 win for Arsenal over the MLS All-Stars in the MLS All-Star Game on Thursday evening.
After winger Chris Willock played a nice overlap with defender Nacho Monreal, Monreal placed a beautiful ground pass across the face of goal, and Akpom tucked it past goalkeeper David Bingham for the winning goal.
Winger Joel Campbell scored the other goal for Arsenal with an 11th-minute penalty kick, and former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba struck in first-half stoppage time to put the All-Stars on the board.
This friendly is a little different than most. The MLS All-Stars are players about halfway into their season, but the roster is filled with players from 19 of the league’s 20 teams, and they only had one day of training together.
On the flip side, this was Arsenal’s second preseason game, but they’ve been training for two or three weeks together and some have played together for years.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger rolled out a fairly experienced starting XI, with Theo Walcott getting his turn in the No. 9 role as the Gunners search for an adequate complement/replacement to Olivier Giroud. Rob Holding (making his Arsenal debut) and Krystian Bielik started at centre back, while Petr Cech started in goal.
Campbell was lively early on, creating havoc for the back line of the All-Stars, and drew a penalty when he was tackled by Montreal Impact and Belgium international defender Laurent Ciman while chasing down a ball in the box.
The Costa Rican picked up the ball, plopped it on the spot and finished with aplomb, beating Philadelphia Union and Jamaican international keeper Andre Blake on the right side.
Twitter: Tucked away. Campbell sneaks one past Andre Blake to put @Arsenal in front. #MLSAllStar https://t.co/sOfN1SidJo (@MLS
Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin went down injured while fouling Drogba in the 42nd minute. He returned and played the rest of the half.
In injury time, Bielik tried to clear the ball but was intercepted and led to an Arsenal nemesis-led goal.
New York Red Bulls midfielder Sacha Klejstan (who played for Anderlecht against Arsenal in their Champions League matches two seasons ago), intercepted Bielik’s pass and played a beautiful ball into ex-Tottenham and current LA Galaxy winger Giovani Dos Santos. Dos Santos passed into the goal mouth area for Drogba, whose first shot was saved by Cech and second shot was blocked by Bielik before the ex-Chelsea striker tucked it into the right side of the net for an appropriate halftime score of 1-1.
Twitter: This guy knows how to score against @Arsenal, huh? #MLSAllStar https://t.co/Jesm9Ryxm2 (@MLS)
The All-Stars pressed at the beginning of the second half, with Cech making a good save on a shot from former Juventus attacker Sebastian Giovinco, who now plays for Toronto FC. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made some good runs on the right side, but wasn’t able to connect with Walcott in the penalty area.
Walcott really struggled to get going in the No. 9 role. His link-up play with Chamberlain, Campbell and Wilshere was shaky, and the shots he did get went right at Blake or Bingham.
At the 67th minute water break in sunny and hot San Jose, California, Wenger brought in the youngsters, with Akpom, Willock, USA youth international Gedion Zelalem and newly-promoted first-teamer Jeff Reine-Adelaide coming into the game. The subs brought energy and pace into the proceedings, and their pressing created multiple chances.
It almost backfired, as former Spurs and Fulham striker and current Seattle Sounders man Clint Dempsey’s pass into the box led to San Jose Earthquakes striker Chris Wondolowski misfiring from close for the All-Stars on a counterattack in the 82nd minute.
The winning goal actually started by a great punt from Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez seeking Reine-Adelaide deep in the All-Stars half. After the punt was cleared out by an MLS All-Stars defender, the Gunners worked the ball around to the left side, where Monreal made a great run around the defense and Willock found him with a pass by the goal line. Monreal’s pass was pitch-perfect, and all Akpom had to do was tap it in.
Twitter: Here’s how @cakpom won it
#ArsenalUSA https://t.co/8Tp8OZoSYb (@Arsenal)
The win had a little extra spice to it for Gunners supporters, as Tottenham lost this same match last year 2-1.
