Western Sydney Wanderers 1-3 Arsenal: Easy Gunners Win

He may be on his way out but Olivier Giroud gave Arsenal fans a glimpse of what they could be about to miss as the Gunners rounded off the Australian leg of their tour with a straightforward victory.
The Frenchman has been linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund following the £52m arrival of compatriot Alexandre Lacazette. Speaking at a kit launch on an island in Sydney Harbour this week an honest Giroud admitted he may well be about to ship out of the club he has been at since 2012.

Here, he finished a Nacho Monreal pull back from close range in a relatively low key match, save for an 11–minute first-half spell in which Arsenal struck three times.

On Thursday night, Lacazette had played up front on his own during his cameo off the bench. Here he played deeper on the left, allowing Giroud to take the reins as the lone striker.

There appeared to be little connection between the two in the 66 minutes they were on the field together – although that is not to say both showed flashes of their capabilities.

Lacazette had taken just 15 minutes to score his first goal for the Gunners, coming off the bench at the same venue in Thursday night’s 2-0 victory over Sydney FC.

He was almost at it again after less than three minutes, turning delightfully on a pass before beating two defenders and seeing his shot well saved.

Other than a spot of handbags between Granit Xhaka and Wanderers’ Jacob Melling there was little of note until Giroud broke the deadlock. Monreal was the provider, surging down the left and setting up the 30-year-old to chip into the roof of the net.

Moments later, the Spaniard was at it again, with an arching, 50-yard ball over a retreating defence for Aaron Ramsey, who dinked a first-time lob over dallying Wanderers keeper Vedran Janjetovic to double the lead.

Mohamed Elneny made it three just before the break when his low shot from outside the area was deflected past Janjetovic. Following half-time, Elneny came close to repeating the trick but his long-range, curling effort thudded against the crossbar.

The Australians did pull one back in humorous fashion after half-time substitute Emi Martinez, for some reason, decided to pick up a Ramsey back pass. The resulting free-kick was blocked by the wall on the line but Steven Lustica hit home the rebound.

Following the inevitable mass changes, the game faded. Theo Walcott came close and Mesut Ozil hit a post with a chip from a free kick while Eddie Nketiah did likewise from just inside the area but the arrival on the field of a paper airplane, launched from the top tier, drew the biggest cheer.

On Sunday morning, Wenger and his travelling party will depart for China for the next leg of their tour. His Arsenal side have been watched by more than 160,000 fans over two nights on their first trip Down Under for 40 years.

They are loved here. A number of youngsters have tasted first team action and, perhaps most importantly, there have been no injury scares. While it is not advised to read too much into friendlies, there has been plenty of promise for Wenger to feel encouraged about as he reclines in his seat for the trip to the far east.

see more photos below: