Arsenal defeated Barcelona 5-3 in a preseason friendly played on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Leandro Trossard scored two goals in the second half to lead Arsenal to the victory.
Barcelona is the current champion of Spain.
At the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, the English Premier League runner-up completed an impressive win behind two goals scored by Belgian international Trossard. His goals came in the 55th and 78th minutes, respectively.
Because the team bus for Arsenal was stuck in traffic on the way to the stadium, the start of an interesting match at the stadium where the Los Angeles Rams play in the National Football League was pushed back by thirty minutes.
When it was finally time for the match to begin, Barcelona got off to a strong start, with Moroccan striker Abde Ezzalzouli unleashing a spectacular move down the left wing to set up the first goal for the Catalans.
Ezzalzouli’s cross was received by Raphinha, whose first-time effort was blocked by Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, but only as far as Robert Lewandowski, who banged in the finish in the seventh minute. The goal was scored in the seventh minute.
Arsenal, on the other hand, quickly responded, and England international Bukayo Saka tied the game in the 13th minute following a defensive blunder on the part of Barcelona center back Andreas Christensen.
After Ronald Araujo handled the ball inside the penalty area, Saka had the opportunity to put Arsenal in the lead from the penalty spot on minute 22, but the winger squandered the opportunity by missing the post with his attempt.
Raphinha’s long-range free kick deflected off Martin Odegaard in the Arsenal wall to fool Ramsdale and give Barca the lead again just after the half-hour mark. This gave Barca the opportunity to retake the lead.
However, Odegaard made apologies for his earlier mistake just before halftime by passing the ball on to Arsenal’s newest acquisition, striker Kai Havertz, who finished the game off with a close-range punch.
Saka had a fantastic opportunity to put the Gunners ahead early in the second half, but he shot over the net from five yards out when the goal was begging to be scored. Arsenal controlled large portions of the second half, but Saka missed the opportunity.
However, Arsenal’s persistent pressure paid off as Trossard scored twice in the 55th and 78th minutes to extend their lead to 4-2.
Ferran Torres scored a late consolation goal for Barcelona in the 88th minute to offer the Catalans a glimmer of hope, but Fabio Vieira made certain of victory with a long-range shot a minute before full-time to ensure that PSG would take the three points.