Arsenal 4-1 Bayer Leverkusen: Rampant Gunners hammer Bundesliga champions

Arsenal continued their preparations for the new Premier League season with a convincing 4-1 triumph over Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus gave the Gunners a comfortable advantage at half-time, with Kai Havertz adding a fourth in the second half.

Substitute Adam Hlozek would take the shine off an otherwise impressive performance from Mikel Arteta’s side late on, but Arsenal were worthy winners at the Emirates.

A frantic start to proceedings saw Zinchenko give the hosts the lead in the eighth minute as he rifled home Havertz’s cutback from the edge of the area.

Matej Kovar was picking the ball out of his net again less than a minute later, as Leverkusen were caught playing out from the back with Trossard remaining composed to slot home.

Another mistake from the Bundesliga champions was punished seven minutes before half-time, this time by Jesus, who saw his long-range effort evade the grasp of Kovar.

The result was put beyond doubt just after the hour mark when the returning Bukayo Saka saw his cross deflect kindly into the path of Havertz for an easy finish.

Xabi Alonso’s side showed a glimpse of the football that saw them win 28 of their 34 league games last year, with Hlozek rounding off a fine move with a delicate chip over David Raya.

Arsenal face Lyon in their final pre-season fixture on Sunday before starting their quest for that long-awaited Premier League title against Wolves six days later.

A polished pre-season performance pic.twitter.com/UCHtB47jq1

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 7, 2024

Data Debrief: Gunners turn on the style

Arsenal impressed in their penultimate pre-season fixture against a strong Leverkusen side, with promising signs to show they can go one better this season.

Arteta’s side out-performed their expected goals (xG) by 2.6, with six of their nine shots on target, registering double the amount of touches in the box when compared to their opponents.

Trossard was a particular standout for the Gunners, recording the most touches in the opposition box (seven) completing 19 passes in the final third, a total only bettered by Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka (24) and Edmond Tapsoba (21).