Arsenal opened their three-match tour of the United States by beating Bournemouth 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Los Angeles.
Fabio Vieira gave Arsenal a first-half lead when he met Reiss Nelson’s deep cross on the volley and drove it first time into the far bottom corner.
In a competitive game during which three players were booked, Karl Hein denied Dominic Solanke then Daniel Jebbison after the forward – who was signed from Sheffield United this summer – found himself inside the penalty area with only the Estonia goalkeeper to beat.
However Hein had no chance of keeping out Antoine Semenyo’s strike, which hit Omar Rekik as he tried to close the effort down and dropped into the far corner.
Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto denied Leandro Trossard late on after some excellent play in the build-up from Martin Odegaard, so the pre-planned shootout settled the spoils with Ryan Christie’s miss proving decisive.
All Arsenal’s experienced players had some involvement with the exception of Emile Smith Rowe, who has been linked with a move to Fulham.
“There are things happening in the background and we decided the best thing to do was to keep him away from the game,” Gunners boss Mikel Arteta told reporters after the game.
The game concludes Bournemouth’s trip to California following their draw with Wrexham, while Arsenal take on Manchester United in the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday.
