‘Positive preparation’ helps Arsenal end U.S. tour unbeaten
Only champion Leicester City finished the last English Premier League on a hotter streak than Arsenal, which was unbeaten in its last 10 games, a closing sprint allowed the Gunners to rally from fourth to second in the final EPL standings.
The momentum is apparently carrying over to the summer, with Arsenal remaining unbeaten in its preseason with a 3-1 exhibition victory Sunday over Chivas of Guadalajara before a crowd of 24,168 at StubHub Center.
“It’s better to win than to lose,” Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger said. “It’s only preparation at the moment. [But] a positive preparation can create confidence.”
It can also create goals with Arsenal getting scores from Rob Holding late in the first half and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Chuba Akpom in the first 11 minutes of the second.
Chivas’ only score came on a 74th-minute penalty kick by second-half substitute Angel Zaldivar.
The Gunners gave big-money transfer Granit Xhaka his first start in the friendly but several other regulars sat out the U.S. tour, among them Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Mesut Ozil, who were given extra time to rest following the European Championships, and Alexis Sanchez, who is recovering from ankle injury sustained in the Copa America.
Jack Wilshere did not dress Sunday because of a knee issue.
Meanwhile Chivas, already three weeks into its Liga MX schedule and playing its fourth game in eight days, started just one of the first-team regulars alongside three-second division players and another from the U-20 academy team.
The predictable result was a game that, early on, was long on tedium, with back passes nearly outnumbering those going forward.
Arsenal finally broke through in the 34th minute on a goal from Holding, a center back who has impressed Wenger since signing with the team just nine days ago. The build-up began with a long free kick from Santi Cazorla that found Calum Chambers a step short of the end line. Chambers send a volley back toward the center of the goal for an unmarked Holding, who tapped it home.
After that the game quickly opened up with Oxlade-Chamberlain doubling Arsenal’s lead five minutes into the second half with a brilliant individual effort that saw him elude four Chivas defenders before sending a left-footed shot into the goal at the far corner.
Six minutes later a pair of second-half substitutes hooked up with Mathieu Debuchy sending a low cross in from the left wing for Akpom, who redirected it into the net with his right foot.
Debuchy also set up Chivas’ lone goal, earning a penalty when he knocked Alejandro Zendejas to the turf in the 18-yard box.
Play turned chippy after that with the Chivas bench complaining so vociferously that referee Kevin Terry Jr. ejected a member of the team’s technical staff.
That did little to calm tempers, though, with Arsenal’s Joel Campbell and Chivas’ Edwin Hernandez exchanging shoves and slaps with two minutes left in regular time.
After the game Arsenal headed straight to the airport and a flight to Norway, where it plays another exhibition Friday. Wegner, however, is already looking ahead to the start of the Premier League season in two weeks.
“For us it’s very important to focus and improve the quality of our game,” he said. “The reality starts on the 14th of August.”
kevin.baxter@latimes.com
