Kai Havertz & Gabriel Jesus silence the doubters! Winners & losers as Arsenal forwards prove they can lead the line in demolition of Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen
Getty/GOALThe German and Brazilian stars were particularly impressive as the Bundesliga champions were easily overpowered in north London
There have been questions over Arsenal's ability to score enough goals, but the Gunners completely outclassed Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen as they ran out 4-1 winners in a pre-season friendly at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday. Mikel Arteta's team were in fine form from beginning as they came up against a German side that looked far off the level Xabi Alonso will expect of them after such a stunning 2023-24 campaign.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz were among the goals for the north London side but there were plenty more strong displays from those in the famous red jersey in their penultimate friendly before the beginning of the Premier League campaign.
Zinchenko fired the Gunners into the lead just eight minutes into the clash when an excellent move ended in Havertz being released down the left wing. He had an abundance of space to work with and cut the ball back into the box, where Martin Odegaard pulled off a dummy to let it roll to Zinchenko and he blasted it into the bottom corner.
It took just one minute for the home team to double that lead and it was more tidy work with the ball that created it. A mistake from Leverkusen and Arsenal's high pressing saw Trossard win possession and spark a neat passing move, ending with the Belgian being in the perfect place to slot home from inside the box – Havertz again getting the assist.
Things quietened down for a period from then but Arsenal remained on top of their German opponents and managed to grab a third after 38 minutes. Leverkusen threw away possession high up the field and Jesus took the ball and charged down the left side before cutting in and going on to fire beyond Matej Kovar.
Arteta made some important changes to the team as he sent them out for the second-half, allowing Bukayo Saka to get in on the fun. The Englishman was in a good mood as he burst past a Leverkusen defender and sent a dangerous ball into the middle of the box, seeing it bounce off of Aleix Garcia and fall perfectly for Havertz to get the goal he deserved against his former team.
Arsenal's many changes in the second half gave Leverkusen some more freedom as they managed to pull a goal back later on, but the damage was done by then and Arteta will feel there were far more positives than negatives.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Emirates Stadium…
