ARSENAL destroyed London rivals Chelsea 4-0 at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
The Gunners saw summer signing Oleksandr Zinchenko making his debut while the Blues had Raheem Sterling registering his first start and Kalidou Koulibaly coming off the bench.
The North Londoners picked up a comfortable victory with Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard on target in the first half before Bukayo Saka and Albert Sambi Lokonga sealed their triumph after the break.
That’s all from Florida
Arsenal destroyed London rivals Chelsea with a 4-0 triumph to win the Florida Cup at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
The Gunners, who had Oleksandr Zinchenko in their starting line-up, dominated the first half and opened the scoring after just 15 minutes Gabriel Jesus, who netted his fourth goal in as many friendly games.
Trevoh Chalobah gave the ball away and Granit Xhaka set Jesus up in the box to beat Edouard Mendy with a lovely flick.
The North Londoners doubled the lead on 36 minutes when Gabriel Martinelli found Martin Odegaard open in the area and the captain hit the back of the net with a low shot.
Things got worse for Chelsea, who saw Kalidou Koulibaly making his unofficial debut as a second-half substitute, while Raheem Sterling made his first start.
Arsenal sealed the win on 66 minutes when Bukayo Saka beat Mendy from close range after the Blues’ keeper denied both Martinelli and Xhaka – Thomas Tuchel’s men protested for offside but there was no VAR.
Mikel Arteta’s side made it four in the fourth minute of stoppage time when a cross by Cedric Soares from the right found Albert Sambi Lokonga completely open in the far post from where he headed the ball to the back of the net.
That’s all from us here at SunSport, find out more about the game in our full match report
Tuchel on Koulibaly
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel singled summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly out after his unofficial debut.
Koulibaly didn’t get much time as he came off the bench on 73 minutes but that was still enough to convince his new manager that he was the “best player on the pitch”.
Tuchel said: “Was the best player on the pitch.
“On an evening where nothing felt good, this felt good”
Jules Kounde situation
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was asked about the club’s bid to sign Sevilla stat Jules Kounde after the 4-0 loss to Arsenal.
Kounde was expected to imminently link up with the Blues after being left out of his team’s pre-season tour in Portugal.
However, Barcelona have reportedly swooped in and are likely to hijack the transfer.
Tuchel said: “There is no update.
“We had an urgent appeal for quality players and a huge amount of quality players.
“We got two quality players no doubt but we’re not competitive like this and you could see that today”
Florida Cup celebrations
Arsenal won the Florida Cup after beating Chelsea 4-0 in Orlando, Florida.
The Gunners have won all of their four friendly matches in pre-season so far.
The North Londoners also enjoyed a stunning US tour as they beat Everton, Orlando City and London rivals Chelsea.
A lot of promising stuff from Mikel Arteta’s men, who fly back to London later today
Stats
Arsenal dominated 56 per cent of possession throughout the match against Chelsea.
The difference in quality in this game has been absolutely obvious.
The Gunners registered a total of 12 shots, 10 of which were on target.
Chelsea, on the other hand, only managed five shots, one of which was on target
Summer transfer watch
Tonight’s match between Arsenal and Chelsea saw three summer signings in action.
Raheem Sterling made his first start with the Blues but didn’t manage to stand out after a difficult first half.
Oleksandr Zinchenko made his debut with the Gunners but also didn’t get much in.
Kalidou Koulibaly came on for Chelsea late during the second half and didn’t get much time.
But Koulibaly stood out when he blocked a shot by Nicolas Pepe with a brilliant tackle inside the area that prevented a fifth goal.
All three signings need more time to adapt to their new club during pre-season
FT: Arsenal 4-0 Chelsea
Arsenal destroyed London rivals Chelsea with a 4-0 triumph to win the Florida Cup at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando Florida.
The Gunners, who had Oleksandr Zinchenko in their starting line-up, dominated the first half and opened the scoring after just 15 minutes with usual suspect Gabriel Jesus, who netted his fourth goal in as many friendly games.
Trevoh Chalobah gave the ball away and Granit Xhaka set Jesus up in the area to beat Edouard Mendy with a lovely flick.
The North Londoners doubled the lead on 36 minutes when Gabriel Martinelli found Martin Odegaard open in the area and the captain hit the back of the net with a crisp low shot.
Things got worse for Chelsea, who saw Kalidou Koulibaly making his unofficial debut as a second-half substitute.
Arsenal sealed the win on 66 minutes when Bukayo Saka beat Mendy from close range after the Blues’ keeper denied shots by Martinelli and Xhaka – Thomas Tuchel’s men protested for offside as there was no VAR.
Mikel Arteta’s side made it four in the fourth minute of stoppage time when a cross by Cedric Soares from the right found Albert Sambi Lokonga completely unmarked in the far post from where he headed the ball to the back of the net
FT: Arsenal 4-0 Chelsea
Peep!
That full-time in Orlando!!!
Arsenal 4-0 Chelsea
90+4 And that is that!
Chelsea’s terrible defending reached peak level as Cedric delivers a cross from the right to the far post where Lokonga is completely open.
The midfielder gets a brilliant header to beat Mendy and proceeds to celebrate by removing his shirt and getting booked
Arsenal 4-0 Chelsea
90+4 Goal!
Arsenal end it with a fourth by Lokonga!!!
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
90+1 Chance!
Arsenal ace Pepe delivers a brilliant free-kick from a promising position and targets the top left corner.
But Mendy denies him with a brilliant lunge to his left!
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
90 Two more minutes of stoppage time to go.
The Arsenal celebrations from the US faithful are in full swing
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
90 Yellow card
Chelsea ace Koulibaly gets booked after a foul on Nketiah, who was set to go by and find himself in position for goal
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
89 Chance
Arsenal signing Marquinhos delivers a long-range shot that goes out for a goal-kick
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
88 Almost full-time here in Orlando.
The play has slowed down but the crowd is still loud and loving every moment of this
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
85 Incredible moment of brilliance by Koulibaly on his debut!
Pepe finds himself inside the area ready to beat Mendy for a fourth goal.
But the Chelsea signing denies him just in time with a brilliant tackle!
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
83 Arsenal are dominating possession and tempo in the closing stages of the match.
Chelsea appear to have conceded defeat
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
80 We are approaching full-time and Arsenal are getting ready to celebrate the Florida Cup.
Still a long way to go for both clubs until they are absolutely ready for the coming season
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
78 Yellow card
Arsenal boss Arteta introduces Maitland-Niles, who replaces Odegaard.
Lokonga also comes on in Xhaka’s place
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
78 Yellow card
It is raining yellows in Orlando!
Odegaard is booked next for a foul on Pulisic, who was about to run off and create a dangerous situation
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
76 Yellow card
Chelsea ace Ampadu also gets booked, just a few minutes after his substitution, for a foul on Tavares!
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
75 Yellow card
Arsenal ace Marquinhos gets booked just a few minutes after his introduction
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
73 Substitution
Chelsea boss Tuchel responds with some changes of his own.
Ampadu and Hudson-Odoi replace Silva and Jorginho respectively.
And Koulibaly also comes on to make his unofficial debut as he takes James’ place
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
73 Substitution
Oops, I almost forgot, Elneny also takes Partey’s place
Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea
73 Substitution
Arsenal boss Arteta shakes things up with Marquinhos, Pepe and American keeper Turner, who plays in front of his crowd, replacing Saka, Martinelli and Ramsdale respectively
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk