Arsenal 3-1 Manchester City: quick recap

Arsenal played well on both sides of the pitch and defeated Actual Premier League Team Manchester City 3-1 in Helsinki, in the final friendly of the preseason. It was a game made up mostly of bright spots with not a lot to complain about, and looked to be almost as good a final tune-up as one could ask for.

Theo Walcott opened the scoring in the 9th minute, taking a smooth diagonal through ball from Aaron Ramsey as he cut in from the right, and beating Joe Hart easily. It was a vintage Theo goal, and good play from Ramsey as well. The Welshman would contribute again in the second half - in the 59th minute, he played a 1-2 that led to a through ball behind the defense, and was able to round Hart and finish easily. Ramsey was probably the star of the show, and with a goal and an assist he'll be the star of the stat sheet as well. Two minutes later Arsenal were in again, with Walcott bombing a long ball to Olivier Giroud, who got past Vincent Kompany and lobbed poor Joe Hart for the third. It was 3-0, and the game was basically done.

Alvaro Negredo got a goal with ten minutes left, but it wouldn't be much consolation to City. They'd been outplayed, and Arsenal was running out youth players and trialists as substitutes. It was really a good way to end a contentious preseason for Arsenal fans, and now we have a week to get ready for The Real Thing.