Gunners gun down Buffon
Arsenal hit five goals past legendary Italian keeper, Gianluigi Buffon – now playing for PSG – in their International Champions Cup match in Singapore.
Arsenal signed off the Asian leg of their International Champions Cup campaign with a 5-1 rout of manager
Unai Emery’s old club, Paris Saint-Germain, in Singapore. The Gunners, who lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid two days ago, prevailed this time with Mesut Ozil’s early goal and two secondhalf strikes from Alexandre Lacazette putting them in charge after Christopher Nkunku had levelled briefly from the penalty spot. There was then a late fourth from defender Rob Holding and an even later fifth, courtesy of Eddie Nketiah. Ozil was captain for this fixture and wasted little time in putting his stamp on proceedings at the Singapore Stadium. PSG’s Azzedine Toufiqui had already twice gone close when Ozil’s cross set up Shkodran Mustafi for a header which also flew wide. Within a minute, an unattended Ozil tucked in from close range after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had crossed from the right. Alex Iwobi’s right-foot shot was saved by Gianluigi Buffon and, although Toufiqui threatened again with a longrange shot before the half-hour, Arsenal were dominant. Buffon saved twice more, from Aubameyang and then Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Mustafi went close from Ozil’s cross, but Arsenal could not extend their advantage before the break. Emiliano Martinez, who replaced Bernd Leno at half-time, kept Arsenal ahead with a fine save from Nkunku’s shot early in the second half. Timothy Weah missed from a tight angle, as did Adrien Rabiot with a header, as PSG pressed. Then after Sead Kolasinac fouled Weah to concede a penalty, Nkunku made no mistake to level just before the hour mark. Emery made a raft of four further substitutions – including Emile Smith-Rowe for Ozil – and, less than three minutes later, the teenage midfielder helped the Gunners get back in front when he found the perfect cross for Lacazette to get in ahead of the defence. The France striker confirmed Arsenal’s superiority with 20 minutes to go when he doubled up with a close-range header. Holding then emphasised the advantage with his header in the 87th minute and, four minutes into injury time, Nketiah completed the rout. n Middlesbrough boss Tony Pulis insists the English game is “the greatest in the world’’ because it offers such intense competition. Pulis led Boro to a Championship play-off semi-final loss to Aston Villa last season after his Boxing Day appointment followed Garry Monk’s sacking. And Welshman Pulis reckons two of his former clubs, West Brom and Stoke – along with fellow relegated side Swansea – will make it every bit as tough to win promotion in the new term. Wolves stormed to the Championship title last season with 99 points, nine clear of Cardiff. Third-placed Fulham joined the top two in the Premier League by beating Villa in the play-off final. And Pulis stressed: “If you look at West Brom, I don’t think they’ve sold too many players, so they’ll be very strong if they keep the rest of their squad. “Swansea have a group of players who have played in the Premier League, not for a year or two, but for a long period of time. “And Stoke have spent a lot of money, so I see those three clubs being there or thereabouts. Then there’s the rest of us, if we can be up there. “I’ve never known any league in this country, having worked in all four divisions, be anything but competitive. “That’s why, for me, it’s the greatest football nation in the world because every game you go to, you usually get two teams really working hard against each other – supporters don’t allow them to do anything else.’’ Pulis is desperate to hang on to winger Adama Traore, who is wanted by Wolves and Huddersfield. However, the Spaniard, 22, has an £18million buy-out clause. The Boro boss confirmed Traore was taken to hospital after his shoulder “popped out’’ in Friday’s friendly with Sunderland at the Riverside, where a thunderstorm forced a half-time abandonment with the score 0-0. Pulis admitted: “Everybody, especially me, wants Adama to be here for next season.’’ Pulis has had talks with chairman Steve Gibson over the need to boost his squad before Saturday’s opener at Millwall. He said: “I’ve spoken to the chairman and we need to add one or two – but they have to be the right players. “Hopefully, we’ll do that over the next few days.’’