Ethan Nwaneri starred in midfield for an hour while goalkeeper Karl Hein was the penalty hero as Arsenal kicked off their tour of USA with a 5-4 win on penalties over Bournemouth following a 1-1 draw at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles.
17-year-old Nwaneri was the creative engine of Arsenal’s midfield alongside Thomas Partey and Fabio Vieira, while 22-year-old Hein made a number of saves during the match and saved two penalties to help Arsenal emerge victorious at the end of the game.
Arsenal dominated the game and duly took the lead after 18 minutes when Vieira, who’s hoping to get more playing time this season, struck a first-time volley from Reiss Nelson’s cross into the bottom corner of Neto’s goal.
Despite their dominance, the Gunners were unable to get a second to kill the game off while the Cherries created tried making the most of counterattacks, coming close to an equaliser when Dominic Solanke saw an effort in the second half crash off the Arsenal crossbar.
Bournemouth got the equaliser after 73 minutes through substitute Antoine Semenyo who saw his shot deflect off Ben White and loop over Hein. At this time, most of Arsenal’s first team had come off the bench but despite all efforts were unable to find a winner.
In the shoot-out, Hein saved from Philip Billing, only for Leandro Trossard to see his penalty for Arsenal strike the post. However, Hein saved Ryan Christie’s spot-kick and left Jakub Kiwior to win the tie for the Gunners.
Next up for Arsenal is another friendly against Manchester United on Sunday at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Bournemouth on their part will face Spanish side Rayo Vallecano in their next friendly on August 4.