Preseason: Jesus hits hattrrick as Arsenal hammer Sevilla 6-0
Gabriel Jesus marked his first Arsenal home game with a hat-trick as the Gunners ended pre-season with a 6-0 thrashing of Sevilla to lift the Emirates Cup.
Four quickfire goals put the Gunners in cruise control within the first 19 minutes of the game, with Bukayo Saka and Jesus grabbing two each.
The £45m signing had to wait until 12 minutes from time to complete his hat-trick, flicking home a loose ball as Sevilla tried to defend a corner. A late sixth came when Gabriel Martinelli teed up Eddie Nketiah for a tap-in following a quick counter-attack.
The result means Mikel Arteta’s side have maintained their 100 per cent record in friendlies played in front of crowds this pre-season, ahead of their Premier League opener against Crystal Palace next week, live on Sky Sports’ Friday Night Football.
Arsenal paid tribute to former Gunners and Sevilla forward Jose Antonio Reyes – who passed away three years ago – in this final friendly and it was during their ninth-minute applause for the Spaniard that they got the opener.
Martin Odegaard clipped in Saka to the right of the penalty area and the England international was felled by Karim Rekik for a clear penalty. Saka converted the spot-kick, suggesting his role as Arsenal’s first-choice penalty taker after Alexandre Lacazette’s departure is now cemented.
Three minutes later, it was two. Ben White’s crossfield pass found Jesus on the left touchline. The £45m signing fed Granit Xhaka in the area before racing onto the midfielder’s cleared cross to tap home for his first Emirates Stadium goal.
Xhaka had another role in Jesus’ second goal, playing a quick free-kick to Gabriel Martinelli down the left. The winger found his first-name namesake in the box to tap home another finish on the stretch, with the Brazilian completely unmarked.
And worse Sevilla defending brought about Arsenal’s fourth. Goalkeeper Bono panicked under pressure from Arsenal’s front three and played the ball straight to Saka who tucked in a finish with his weaker right foot.
The Gunners could have made it more before half-time, with Martinelli, Xhaka and Thomas Partey spurning clear cut chances. At the other end, defenders William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko – making their home debuts for Arsenal – were relatively untroubled.
After the break, Odegaard went close a couple of times – while Xhaka hit the roof of the net. But the celebrations belonged to Jesus as he rounded off the victory by finishing first-time from close range as the Spanish side couldn’t clear their lines from a set piece.
With Sevilla trying to claim a consolation strike, Arsenal hit their opponents for a sixth. Xhaka released Martinelli on the counter attack, with the Brazilian unselfishly teeing up Nketiah for the simplest of finishes.
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