Match report & player ratings: Arsenal 8-0 Viking FK
Arsenal beat Viking FK by eight goals to nil in what can only be described as an awesome performance against poor opposition.
First half
Arsenal dominated the first-half against Viking FK and their early superiority led to them earning a penalty through Mathieu Debuchy, whose barraging run saw him fouled, only for Santi Cazorla to miss his second successive penalty, perhaps hinting that he should be taken off the duty ahead of the new season.
They did, however, take the lead after the Spaniard’s corner was headed by Mohamed Elneny and Joel Campbell slid in to tap the ball home, meaning the visitors took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Second half
Arsenal came out fit and firing in the second period, scoring three times within nine minutes through Cazorla, Theo Walcott and Own Goal, everyone’s favourite player. The first effort saw the Spaniard gifted far too much space and outside of the box, he smashed it home with his left foot. Walcott’s effort was a good laced finish from close range and the fourth of the game saw Campbell’s cross deflected home.
The Gunners continued to dominate throughout the second half and added their fifth and sixth goals through Campbell and half-time substitute Alex Iwobi. They then finished the scoring off with their seventh and eighth goals, once again through Iwobi as well as Chuba Akpom, who now has three goals in pre-season football.
David Ospina: 6/10
Had very little to do in the first half and could have been embarrassed when his kick was blocked by a Viking forward, luckily it had no pace on it.
Mathieu Debuchy: 6/10
Fairly unchallenged defensively but Debuchy earned Arsenal’s penalty through a good run, one that he kept on repeating throughout his time on the pitch.
Possibly his last appearance in a Gunners shirt, with a loan move to Galatasaray seemingly likely in the coming days.
Gabriel: 5/10
Did little wrong on his return from tonsillitis, came off at the break.
Krystian Bielik: 8/10
The young Pole had a solid first-half performance, controlled his defence and showed his footballing ability by spraying a 50-yard pass from left to right.
He could seriously find himself battling for a place in the first-team this season.
Kieran Gibbs: 6/10
Solid performance from Gibbs who provided a lot going forward and didn’t have to do too much in terms of defending.
Francis Coquelin: 4/10
Coquelin is a solid midfielder but his lack of ability on the ball showed, which was disappointing. Seems to be a bit of a poor passer of the ball, would have hoped this would get worked on during the summer.
Mohamed Elneny: 8.5/10
Elneny is a class act and a great shout for a place in the first XI for the season ahead, the likes of Granit Xhaka, Coquelin, Jack Wilshere and co. are seemingly behind him at the moment, both in terms of his performances and availability.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6.5/10
Another solid appearance for the Ox, who ran down the channels but used his ability wisely to make life difficult for his opponents. Had a hand in earning the penalty, his pass found Debuchy who was eventually brought down.
Santi Cazorla: 9.5/10 (Man of the Match)
Missed a penalty but other than did worked his usual magic, tidy feet and kept the ball moving quickly. Scored a fantastic goal with his left foot early in the second half but was given too much time by the poor opposition. Looked somewhere near his best.
Joel Campbell: 9/10
The Costa Rican international scored a brace and had a very, very good performance.
His first was a well positioned sliding effort and the second was a thumping effort into the top of the net, something supporters will hope to see more often throughout the campaign.
Theo Walcott: 5.5/10
Even though he scored a good goal, the England international seems to be getting worse game-by-game, whether that’s because he’s playing in a role that he clearly stated he doesn’t want to anymore or just that he’s not a great footballer, Walcott seems so sloppy on the ball and doesn’t have the ability to keep up with his pace.
Could have done so well on a counter-attack in the first half, only for his pass into Oxlade-Chamberlain to just be wild and go straight out for a throw-in, it was just poor.
Substitutes:
Rob Holding: 6/10
Not sure he had to do anything.
Jeff Reine-Adelaide: 7/10
Played a central midfield role that he’s featured in a few times for the under-21s and showed his ability by threading the ball from deep through to Iwobi for the seventh goal.
Alex Iwobi: 8/10
Came on and added plenty of pace and ability, found space time and time again with his intelligence and scored two good goals. What an absolute talent Arsenal have on their hands.
Hector Bellerin: 5.5/10
Added pace from wide areas and got a number of touches once he came into play, decent stuff.
Gedion Zelalem: 6/10
Neat and tidy on the ball, passed it around with precision, exactly what you’d expect of him.
Nacho Monreal: 5/10
Didn’t exactly have anything to do…
Chris Willock: 6/10
Willock will be a very useful part of the Arsenal first-team for the season ahead, should he earn that right (looks like he will). Was skilful
Chuba Akpom: 7/10
Scored a late goal, again. This kid can’t stop getting ’em.
