Arsenal have beaten Orlando City 1-3 in the second game of their pre-season US tour.
The Gunners came out of the blocks quickly, Gabriel Martinelli scoring within five minutes,
His shot took a big deflection off the Orlando defender, taking it past the goalkeeper and putting Arsenal ahead.
Advert
It didn't take the MLS side long to hit back though, and they did through Facundo Torres.
The winger taking the ball under control before cutting inside and slicing a fine finish past Aaron Ramsdale.
In the second half, Mikel Arteta made 11 changes, and Arsenal were back ahead after some good interplay and a finish from Eddie Nketiah.
Reiss Nelson wrapped up the score late on, volleying in Bukayo Saka's cross to cap off a good Arsenal move.
Advert
Here are your player ratings:
Aaron Ramsdale: 7
Ramsdale with his first minutes of pre-season, and did well.
Advert
Stood up tall and made a great save from a one v one and his distribution was quite good. Not a lot he could've done with the goal.
Cedric: 5
Your average Cedric performance. The right-back did nothing notable in either a positive or negative light so gets a five.
Rob Holding: 4
Holding has some fierce competition coming his way in the form of William Saliba, and nights like this won't help his case.
Advert
He was constantly losing his man and clumsy in the challenge. His only saving grace was the man next to him.
Pablo Mari: 2
Mari was a decent signing at the time, for the price and his attributes.
However, it is clear this Arsenal team has moved well past the Spaniard now. He was caught out time and time again by basic balls over the top, his switch-off contributing to the Orlando goal.
Advert
Arsenal will need to find a buyer.
Nuno Tavares: 5
Didn't cover himself in glory for the Orlando goal. Some decent points of link-up later in the game saves Tavares' rating.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 3
Being a Hale End graduate, it's understandable a lot of Arsenal fans want to see Maitland-Niles succeed.
Unfortunately it doesn't look like it'll be at Arsenal if he does. The midfielder was lethargic.
Mohamed Elneny: 4
Not Elneny's best game either, he was caught out a few times too many in midfield.
Albert Sambi Lokonga: 7
Sambi has adopted this left central-midfield position and embraced it with open arms in pre-season.
He looks very comfortable joining that attack on the left side and was involved in multiple good Arsenal moves, including Martinelli's goal.
Nicolas Pepe: 5
It's just not going to work for Arsenal's record signing. Managed to beat his man a couple of times but the end product is just not there.
The difference in Arsenal's threat on the right after Saka came on spoke volumes.
Gabriel Martinelli: 6
Despite his goal, not one of Martinelli's best games.
He struggled to get past his man and often was reduced to dropping deep.
The goal saves his rating but a little worrying to see the Brazilian look almost a little tired in his performance.
Eddie Nketiah: 8
Nketiah is having a brilliant pre-season.
The striker looks at the top of his game currently and extremely confident following his new contract.
Again, he used his body to hold off and turn defenders, always looking in control.
He got his goal after combining with Gabriel Jesus and the two shared a great moment as they held up their 'phones' in celebration together.
Notable substitutes
Martin Odegaard: 8
Arsenal's captain-to-be was superb when coming off the bench.
Instantly, he acted as a focal point for the team and heavily involved himself in almost everything Arsenal did going forward.
Gabriel Jesus: 8
What more can we say about Jesus. It probably sums him up that within minutes of coming on, he had turned his defender with his back to goal, dribbled past two more and almost scored.
A signing for Arsenal that may prove to be truly magical.
William Saliba: 8
Saliba is making a very good case to Mikel Arteta that he should start in that right centre-back position against Crystal Palace.
At just 21, the strength, the composure and reading of the game are very, very impressive.
Saliba feels like a new signing and a very exciting one at that.
Bukayo Saka: 7
Saka probably should've had a goal to go with his assist but had a great cameo anyway.
The jewel in Arsenal's crown and he is only getting better.
Reiss Nelson: 7
Nelson has a hell of a lot to prove if he wants to be in Mikel Arteta's squad this season but tonight was a good start.
The winger's finish from Saka's cross was a good one.
Arsenal can walk away from their second US pre-season game with a clear idea about their squad.
This was a game of two halves and a fair number of the players who started the first half should move on.
However, there were a lot of positives to take also. Arsenal looked great in their new shirt and a certain Oleksandr Zinchenko was sat in the stands.
Excitement is rife around this Arsenal squad at the moment and so it should be.
Topics: Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, MLS, Transfers, Gabriel Jesus, William Saliba