The SIX THINGS WE LEARNED as Arsenal THUMP Chelsea 4-0 in Orlando

Oleksandr Zinchenko outshines ex-Man City team-mate Raheem Sterling on his debut while Edouard Mendy has a distribution horror show… SIX THINGS WE LEARNED during Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Chelsea in the Florida Cup final

  • Arsenal humiliated Chelsea 4-0 in Orlando to win the pre-season Florida Cup
  • Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard put the Gunners 2-0 ahead at half-time
  • Bukayo Saka and Albert Sambi Lokonga completed the thrashing in the second
  • Chelsea looked all at sea defensively and Edouard Mendy struggled with his feet
  • Mikel Arteta’s side put down a marker ahead of the race for top four next season 

Chelsea were handed a humiliating 4-0 by Arsenal in Orlando as the Gunners continued to flaunt their pre-season form ahead of the new campaign.

Marquee signing Gabriel Jesus scored his fourth goal in four to give Mikel Arteta’s side the lead in the 15th minute, before Martin Odegaard doubled the advantage to make it 2-0 at the break.

Goals from Bukayo Saka and Albert Sambi Lokonga in the second-half compounded Chelsea’s misery, leaving Thomas Tuchel with plenty of questions in the build-up to the next season.

Sportsmail has looked at six things we learned during the Florida Cup final.

Arsenal humiliated top four rivals Chelsea 4-0 in the Florida Cup final in Orlando on Sunday

Zinchenko earns standing ovation

Oleksandr Zinchenko, Arsenal’s new £32million signing, was given a standing ovation from the Gunners end as he emerged for his warm-down at the end of an encouraging first 45 minutes in red and white.

The Ukrainian started at left back – in the continued absence of Kieran Tierney – in what looked close to Arteta’s first choice XI.

Zinchenko was rarely tested defensively, instead operating very high up the left flank. He played one delightful crossfield pass to Bukayo Saka and drew whooping cheers from the crowd with some neat feet. 

The 25-year-old had an early chance to shoot, too, but took too long. A decent start nevertheless.

New signing Oleksandr Zinchenko received a standing ovation from the Gunners supporters

Distribution concerns for Mendy

It feels cruel to single out Edouard Mendy, who’s been such a massive influence since arriving at Chelsea. Last night, though, did nothing to assuage concerns about one area of his game: distribution.

Or to put it less politely, Mendy’s kicking was calamitous. One early pass went straight into touch, another went straight to Granit Xhaka as the goalkeeper panicked inside his own area. 

Later, his wayward kick handed Arsenal possession and from the turnover, Martin Odegaard doubled their lead. Another awful touch almost handed Gabriel Martinelli an open goal. It was all the more striking when compared to Aaron Ramsdale’s long-range passing.

Mendy addressed the issue earlier in the tour, insisting only that he works on all aspects of his game.

Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy struggled with his distribution between the sticks

Jesus keeps on firing

Don’t let Chelsea’s charitable defending detract from what was another impressive performance from Gabriel Jesus.

In this, something nearing a first proper test since arriving from Manchester City, he was electric once more. It wasn’t just his goal, which he took brilliantly – nonchalantly lifting the ball over Mendy to make it four from four during pre-season.

There was also a sumptuous turn on halfway which left Trevoh Chalobah looking rather silly and a lovely flick into Martinelli shortly after. Safe to say Jesus outshone all of Chelsea’s forwards until he went down and Arteta wasted no time sending for Eddie Nketiah.

Gabriel Jesus continued his impressive goal-scoring form with his fourth in four matches

New signings best of a bad bunch

A first start for Raheem Sterling and a debut for Kalidou Koulibaly: two milestones on an otherwise dreadful night for Thomas Tuchel’s side.

Before coming off at half-time, Raheem Sterling looked among the brightest of Chelsea’s four forward players. That’s not saying much, mind.

A couple of times the England forward came short to receive the ball and drive at the Arsenal back four. One run ended with a through-ball for Timo Werner, who squandered the opportunity.

Sterling faded into the shadows as the half wore on. Koulibaly, meanwhile, had an eventful introduction: he made a fine recovery challenge to deny Nicolas Pepe and then gifted Marquinhos a chance with a wayward pass before being booked for hauling down Nketiah.

Raheem Sterling’s first start for Chelsea was overshadowed by a terrible display from the Blues

Chelsea’s defence struggles as Arsenal’s excites

Yes, it’s pre-season. Yes, Arsenal are further along in their preparations than Chelsea. But the contrast in the first half between their respective back fours was striking.

Chelsea were all over the place, with Chalobah struggling in particular.

The return of William Saliba, meanwhile, has given Arsenal interesting new possibilities. Ben White started at right back – with Takehiro Tomiyasu out – alongside Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes at centre back. 

That’s one way of getting all three in the team. White has been used at right back by Arteta before and his inclusion allowed Arsenal to occasionally switch to a back three with the ball. Saliba looked classy once more – his pace and positioning will be a real asset.

Thomas Tuchel was visibly displeased with his Chelsea side after the opening 45 minutes

Bad big screen day

It was an evening to forget for those operating the big screens at Camping World Stadium. 

First, their countdown clock hit zero… 15 minutes before kick-off. And then, after Jesus appeared on camera following his opening goal, a name flashed across the screen: Pablo Mari.




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