Granit Xhaka made his debut and substitute Chuba Akpom netted a late match-winner as Arsenal saw off the MLS All-Stars 2-1 in San Jose on Thursday.
Akpom came off the bench past the hour-mark and he proved to be the difference, scoring from close range with three minutes remaining after big-money recruit Granit Xhaka made his debut for the Premier League giants at Avaya Stadium.
Scores were level at half-time after Didier Drogba’s equaliser at the third time of asking for the All-Stars, cancelling out Joel Campbell’s 11th-minute penalty.
The result ended the All-Stars’ run of consecutive wins against European opposition, having upstaged Tottenham Hotspur last year and Bayern Munich in 2014.
Arsenal settled quickest of the two teams, unsurprising given the lack of cohesion and understanding between the All-Stars, who included Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, and David Villa.
And while Giovani dos Santos forced Petr Cech into an early save, Arsenal took advantage of a disjointed back four, with Campbell stepping up to convert from the spot.
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The Costa Rica international lobbed the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Andre Blake and was brought down by Laurent Ciman, before channeling his inner Simone Zaza as he shuffled toward the ball in a stuttered run-up and fired into the bottom corner of the net.
Mohamed Elneny almost doubled Arsenal’s lead, forcing Blake into a fine finger-tip save approaching the half-hour mark, which eventually saw the withdrawal of All-Star pair Andrea Pirlo and David Villa due to their upcoming New York City commitments.
Kaka and his All-Stars, however, did manage to draw level thanks to Drogba on the stroke of half-time.
After receiving a through-ball from Dos Santos, Drogba bundled the ball into the back of the net after his initial shot was saved by Cech and blocked on the line.
Xhaka came off the bench at half-time to make his debut for the Londoners, the Switzerland international looking composed on the ball in midfield, forcing David Bingham into two saves.
All-Star substitutes Cyle Larin and Chris Wondolowski almost combined for the match-winner in the 82nd minute, but Arsenal snatched the victory three minutes from time via Akpom.
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