BBC SPORT
Arsenal opened their three-match tour of the United States by beating Bournemouth 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Los Angeles.
Fabio Vieira gave Arsenal a first-half lead when he met Reiss Nelson’s deep cross on the volley and drove it first time into the far bottom corner.
In a competitive game during which three players were booked, Karl Hein denied Dominic Solanke then Daniel Jebbison after the forward – who was signed from Sheffield United this summer – found himself inside the penalty area with only the Estonia goalkeeper to beat.
However Hein had no chance of keeping out Antoine Semenyo’s strike, which hit Omar Rekik as he tried to close the effort down and dropped into the far corner.
Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto denied Leandro Trossard late on after some excellent play in the build-up from Martin Odegaard, so the pre-planned shootout settled the spoils with Ryan Christie’s miss proving decisive.
All Arsenal’s experienced players had some involvement with the exception of Emile Smith Rowe, who has been linked with a move to Fulham.
“There are things happening in the background and we decided the best thing to do was to keep him away from the game,” Gunners boss Mikel Arteta told reporters after the game.
The game concludes Bournemouth’s trip to California following their draw with Wrexham, while Arsenal take on Manchester United in the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Arsenal’s focus on talented kids
Although Arsenal are close to tying up a £34m deal for Italy defender Riccardo Califiori, the Gunners are putting a renewed focus on youth development as they look to close the gap on Manchester City after successive second-place Premier League finishes.
It means they will try to improve the standard of player going into their academy and, more importantly, the regularity with which they make impacts at the highest level.
Four of the current crop started against Bournemouth and enjoyed varying degrees of success.
Ethan Nwaneri only turned 17 in March but the England youth international had the confidence to burst past Marcos Senesi on an eye-catching run from inside his own half, eventually playing in Eddie Nketiah, who failed to take advantage.
Ayden Heaven is also 17 and looked composed at the heart of Arsenal’s defence. But Heaven was given a lesson in the standards required at the highest level as Solanke nipped past him, requiring Hein to made a brilliant reaction save to deny the Bournemouth striker, who scored 19 Premier League goals last term.
Salah-Eddine Oulad M’hand is a relative old hand at 20. He also has a season of first-team experience behind him from his native Netherlands after a loan spell with Den Bosch.
He was a threat down the left, although Nelson was more incisive, which Leicester City may well have noted given the Foxes are keen on signing the 24-year-old.
Solanke continues form into pre-season
Bournemouth wore a kit designed by the prominent American actor and film producer Michael B Jordan, who is part of Bill Foley’s ownership group.
It did not have a front-of-shirt sponsor, although the club announced earlier this week that Asian online betting company BJ88 have signed a deal for the next two seasons, before gambling firms are banned from being the main sponsor by the Premier League.
Foley has set manager Andoni Iraola the stiff task of following up last season’s 12th-placed finish by trying to secure a European place for the first time in the club’s history.
For that, he needs Solanke, who was by far Bournemouth’s biggest attacking threat against the Gunners, to produce the kind of season he did in the last campaign.
In addition to the shot Hein flicked away, Solanke also drove an effort over the bar and had a shot blocked before he was replaced in the second half.
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