Declan Rice Comes On In Second-Half As Arsenal Cruise To A 5-0 Victory Over The MLS All-Stars

Arsenal beat the Wayne Rooney-managed MLS-All Stars 5-0 in a pre-season friendly in Washington DC.

Updated on: 20 July 2023 4:03 am

Arsenal's Declan Rice (left) in action in the game against MLS All-Stars.

Mikel Arteta described his star summer signing Declan Rice as one who can be a 'lighthouse' for the Gunners as the Englishman came on in the second-half as Arsenal beat the MLS All-Stars 5-0 in a pre-season friendly.

Goals from Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard, Jorginho, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz showed the English Premierl League side's potent as they hammered the MLS side. Coach Mikel Arteta will be pleased with the performance as he look forward to?the upcoming EPL season.

As many as red-clad Arsenal supporters in the crowd at Audi Field must have been thrilled to see Declan Rice getting on in the Arsenal shirt.

Here he is! Declan Rice in an #AFC shirt pic.twitter.com/5dvcnSGEns
— Kaya Kaynak (@kayakaynak97) July 20, 2023

Rice moved from West Ham to the Gunners for a British-record transfer fee last weekend, reported to be 105 million pounds ($138 million). The crowd roared when he came in just over an hour into the match, and cheered again when he possessed the ball.

Preparing for its Premier League opener against Nottingham Forest on Aug. 12, Arsenal plays friendlies against Manchester United on Saturday at East Rutherford, New Jersey, and vs. Barcelona on July 26 at Inglewood, California.

The MLS team had not included their recent Miami addition Lionel Messi in to their roster.