Arsenal under
Mikel Arteta showed no signs of taking it easy in pre-season friendlies, and neither did
Kai Havertz against his former team. A packed
Emirates Stadium witnessed Arsenal's dominant 4-1 victory over
Bayer Leverkusen, managed by
Xabi Alonso, in their fourth and penultimate friendly of the pre-season.
The reigning Bundesliga champions traveled to North London only to be outclassed by Arteta's squad, led by the German attacker. The match was a display of goals, skill, and physicality, after which the home fans paid tribute to former Gunner Granit Xhaka.
Although Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard were the first to find the net with stunning goals, the main star of the evening was Kai Havertz. Both goals had the '29' as the assister. Arsenal, and especially Havertz, who played in a more central role, seemed to be playing at a higher level than their German counterparts. Gabriel Jesus extended the lead with a long-range effort, and Havertz capped off his brilliant performance by scoring the fourth goal for the Londoners. It took Havertz just over an hour to contribute to three goals and dismantle Xabi Alonso's team.
Arsenal fans enjoyed watching their team a little over a week before the start of the 2024-2025 Premier League season. Regular players like David Raya, William Saliba, Martin Ødegaard, Declan Rice, and Bukayo Saka all got minutes, but Mikel Arteta left out Jurriën Timber and the summer's star signing Riccardo Calafiori from the squad.
Despite Adam Hlozek scoring a consolation goal for Leverkusen, nothing could overshadow the splendid afternoon of football delivered by the Gunners. Words like "impressive" and "excellent" were echoed throughout England.