Premier League club Arsenal defeat Western Sydney

FA Cup champions Arsenal defeated the Western Sydney Wanderers 3-1 on Saturday, in the second match of their preseason campaign in Australia.

"In two games there were over 160,000 people," Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger told Xinhua Saturday.

"It just makes us realise how big the support is here and how much people love sport here in Australia."

Despite dominating possession in the early goings, it took the gunners 33 minutes to put one past the Wanderers, when Nacho Monreal landed a cross on the left foot of striker Olivier Giroud.

In the 37th minute, the left back assisted again with a perfectly placed long ball for Aaron Ramsey, who then chipped the Wanderers' keeper with a brilliant piece of skill.

One minute before half time, Arsenal made it 3-0, when a strike from Egyptian captain Mohamed Elneny found its way into the back of the net after a deflection.

The goal was Elneny's first since joining the North Londoners in 2016.

"I thought we did well in the first half against an opposition, who made the game physical and fast...we played at a good pace and very fluent," Wenger said.

After the break, a bizarre incident lead to a Western Sydney Wanderers goal, after a Jack Clisby strike hit the crossbar in the 57th minute.

On the rebound an Arsenal defender passed the ball back to goalkeeper David Ospina, which resulted in an indirect free kick awarded to the Wanderers on the six yard line.

After the initial strike hit Arsenal's wall, Steven Lustica got a foot to the ball to get the host team on the score sheet, to the joy of many local supporters.

The Arsenal squad will make their way to Shanghai to face German heavyweights Bayern Munich on July 19, before travelling to Beijing on July 22 to battle their bitter London rivals Chelsea.

"What I expect from China is that it's going to be very hot, so we will have to adapt to that," Wenger said.

source: xinhua