Arsenal kicked of their pre-season Asian tour by whipping Malaysia 4-0 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
Aaron Ramsey gave Arsenal a flying start from the penalty spot in the 5th minute and Theo Walcott added the second in the 37th to put the Gunners in a comfortable position before half time.
Carlos Vela, returning from a loan stint came on as a second half substitute and made it 3-0 in the 59th while Tomas Rosicky put the icing on the cake with a final minute header.
Kieran Gibbs started at left back after the sale of Gael Clichy to Manchester City, and delivered an assured performance while Thomas Vermaelen started at center back after missing much of last season with an injury.
Except for S. Kunalan, the Malaysian boys were a pale shadow of the side that had won the AFF Suzuki Cup last year.
Aaron’s penalty which beat Mohd Nasril Nourdin in goal brought about a thunderous applause from the 50,000 odd fans who had started filtering through the gates as early as 5pm to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars.
Arsenal’s total dominance in midfield and up front saw National coach Datuk K. Rajagobal make a number of changes, bringing on Badrol Bakhtiar to replace the ineffective Amirul Hadi, first choice goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi and striker
Abdul Hadi Yahya to replace Ahmad Fakri Sarani.
However, their presence failed to change the outcome.
Malaysia will next face another English Premier Club, Liverpool on Saturday at the same venue.
– Bernama
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