In the second-ever meeting between the Major League Soccer All-Stars and Premier League stalwarts Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus scored inside of five minutes, Leandro Trossard added a 23rd-minute rocket, and then Arsenal were the beneficiaries of a second-half handball call and late goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz. That all added up to a 5-0 win from the Premier League runner-ups over their hosts at Audi Field on Wednesday.
Though the slogan around this game was "The Stars Align," they definitely didn't align for the MLS Best in the first half. While Arsenal's players looked direct and decisive, the MLS players looked comparatively more hesitant, with Jesus Ferreira spoiling at least one good opportunity by taking extra touches in the box, and Denis Bouanga and Riqui Puig displaying balls in on goal. The All-Stars finished the half without a shot on goal, while Arsenal converted both of theirs.
In the second half, Tim Parker's handball gave Jorginho an opportunity to score from the spot and a lead that looked insurmountable given the firepower Arsenal brought with them to the match. Martinelli added an 84th-minute goal on a breakaway to seal the deal.
The Arsenal fans in attendance were boisterous throughout the match and gave Arsenal a home-field advantage more than 3600 miles from their actual home.
Three things that caught our eye
So, the starting lineup wasn't much of a surprise, but going in a 4-3-3 was. Would Luciano Acosta and Hany Mukhtar really play as left-sided wingers, as the lineup graphic had them, or would they drift more centrally to possibly get more teammates involved? The All-Star Game is pretty much a tactics-free zone, but not quite to the level of, say, the NBA All-Star Game.
As it turns out, Mukhtar drifted inside from the jump, and though Acosta was nominally in that left wing role, he would also pinch inside at times. On the MLSAS's first real chance, it was Alvaro Barreal bombing up the wing from his left back position.
But then, on Arsenal's first goal less than five minutes in (!), it was Bakary Saka finding space to move on that 10-heavy left side, and Gabriel Jesus getting a clear shot from the top of the box that caught out Roman Burki.
***
The most eye-popping stat of the first half for me was fouls: 12 for the All-Stars vs. just three for Arsenal. Some of those were tactical, to be sure, but most if not all of the four yellow cards committed by MLS players put the clamps on clear scoring opportunities.
MLS is getting better as a league overall, and some of its DPs could play in Europe. Hany Mukhtar, in particular — fresh off reports that a Saudi team offered Nashville an insulting $7 million for his services — looked spry and wily against many of the Arsenal players. Against William Saliba in and around goal, though, it was a different matter.
But, still, it looked like for a lot of the night, MLS players fouled because they had to.
***
I appreciate integrity of the game and all, but maybe we didn't need to have a VAR review of a handball an hour into a match where it was 3-0 and didn't really need to get to 4-0 for any conceivable reason.
We knew it was over when ...
When Tim Parker committed a handball within 30 seconds of the second half (as his first touch on the ball) and Jorginho converted. It's really far too cynical to say "when MLS scheduled Arsenal as its opponent," right?
Questions we're left with
So, okay, there were a lot of Arsenal fans in D.C. A loooooooot. On Tuesday night, there were enough so I could lead a "What do you think of Tottenham" chant for the benefit of new Striker CEO and Tottenham fan Andrew Urban, and on Wednesday, there were even more. So, I'm building to a question here: Can MLS sustain a West vs. East format, especially in the age of Messi, or does the All-Star game still need Liga MX All-Stars or a big European team to fill the stands and make the TV look good?
We're curious to know what MLS attackers might say about the Arsenal defenders. There were opportunities, yes, but
To satisfy our Austin faithful, we'll ask Jon Gallagher what it was like to get a run out even though things were fairly dire shortly after his number was called as part of the halftime reinforcements. He got some one-on-one duels in with Trossard; after one of those, Trossard came out, and Arsenal promptly subbed in Martinelli, which hardly seems fair. He got caught out in space on that goal, and then, you know, Havertz.