Scorers: Zinchenko 8′, Trossard 9′, Jesus 38′, Havertz 66′: Hlozek 75′
Goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus ensured that Arsenal kicked off their Emirates Cup with a convincing win over Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.
The Gunners began the game brightly and took the lead after just eight minutes when a Kai Havertz cutback was thundered home by Ukrainian defender Zinchenko.
A minute later, they had doubled their lead as Leandro Trossard won the ball high up before showing excellent composure to tap home after avoiding a last-ditch challenge.
Mikel Arteta’s side continued to dominate the game and added a third ten minutes before the interval when Gabriel Jesus wriggled free before firing a low effort past Kovac from outside the area, which they goalkeeper got a hand to but could not keep out.
The Gunners welcomed back Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice at half time, as well as sending on young talent Myles Lewis-Skelly as three of four changes for the second half.
And Saka quickly showed his quality on the right hand side as his low cross caused chaos in the Leverkusen penalty area, with the ball eventually falling to Kai Havertz who tapped home a fourth goal for his side.
Leverkusen pulled a goal back 15 minutes from time as a ball in behind the Arsenal backline was pounced on by Adam Hlozek, with the striker calmly slotting past David Raya.
But it was little more than a consolation as the Premier League runners up ramped their season’s preparations in style.
Bayer Leverkusen,Gabriel Jesus,Zinchenko,Arsenal,Havertz,Trossard,Emirates Cup,Mikel Arteta,Bukayo Saka,Declan Rice,David Raya,Myles Lewis-Skelly
