Arsenal, Man City earn preseason wins while Chelsea lose to Inter in Singapore

Posted Sunday, July 30, 2017 by ESPN

Theo Walcott hit a brace for Arsenal to help see off Benfica 5-2 in the Emirates Cup on Saturday.

The Gunners went behind to an early goal from Franco Cervi, but Walcott put them in front by volleying home a cross from new signing Sead Kolasinac in the 24th minute and then scoring into an open net in the 33rd.

Benfica levelled through Eduardo Salvio before the break, but Walcott helped restore the Gunners' lead for good as his cross for Olivier Giroud was steered into the Benfica net by Lisandro for an own goal.

Arsenal then added some polish to the win as Giroud acrobatically volleyed in a perfect cross from 17-year-old Reiss Nelson and Alex Iwobi hammered home a hard strike into the roof of the net.

Alexandre Lacazette was given a rousing reception as he replaced Walcott for the final 15 minutes. He's expected to start on Sunday against Sevilla, who beat beat RB Leipzig 1-0 in the cup's opener thanks to a penalty from Wissam Ben Yedder.

Ivan Perisic struck the winning goal to give Inter Milan a deserved 2-1 victory over Chelsea in Singapore as the English champions lost for the second time in the International Champions Cup, but the spotlight was stolen by Geoffrey Kondogbia's own goal.

Manchester United target Perisic put Inter 2-0 up at the beginning of the second half after a Stevan Jovetic penalty had given the Italians the lead on the stroke of half-time. An incredible 40-yard own goal from Kondogbia brought Chelsea back into the game, but a late rally wasn't enough to earn a point.

Alvaro Morata made his first Chelsea start, but it was a frustrating night for the Spanish striker, who made little impression on the Inter defence.

Manchester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday in a conclusion to both Premier League side's U.S. tours in the ICC.

Kevin De Bruyne's 10th-minute free kick flicked off the wall and fell to the feet of John Stones, who made no mistake from close range.

Raheem Sterling doubled the advantage on 16 minutes when he waltzed through an almost static Tottenham defence and turned the ball past Michel Vorm, and Brahim Diaz popped up to make it two goals from two games with a simple tap in in stoppage time.

Liverpool kicked off the German leg of their preseason tour with a dominant 3-0 victory over Hertha Berlin, as Sadio Mane made a 45-minute return after recovering from knee surgery.

Dominic Solanke, the 19-year-old signed from Chelsea this summer, netted the opener at the Olympiastadion on Saturday evening and crucially won back the ball in the build-up to Georginio Wijnaldum's 38th-minute goal.

Liverpool added a third just after the hour mark when Philippe Coutinho brilliantly played Mohamed Salah through on goal to finish.

West Ham's record signing Marko Arnautovic scored his first goal in a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen. Austria forward Arnautovic, who signed from Stoke in a £20 million deal which could rise by a further £5m, turned in Arthur Masuaku's deflected cross for a 25th-minute equaliser.

Luca Caldirola had given Bremen a 15th-minute lead in Lohne, with England goalkeeper Joe Hart unable to stop the close-range header on his Hammers debut. Young Spanish striker Toni Martinez put West Ham ahead after 75 minutes when he headed home Andre Ayew's cross.

But Zhang Yuning, the China striker on loan from West Brom, struck nine minutes from time to hand Bremen the Betway Cup 3-2 on aggregate. Bremen had won Friday's first leg in Schneverdingen 1-0.

West Ham loanee Reece Oxford scored for Borussia Moenchengladbach in a 2-1 win over Malaga.

Swansea kept wantaway star Gylfi Sigurdsson out of the lineup but still managed a 2-0 win over Birmingham, thanks to goals from Tammy Abraham and Leroy Fer, while Wilfried Zaha's opener for Crystal Palace was cancelled by Opa Nguette in a 1-1 draw with Metz.

Manolo Gabbiadini, James Ward-Prowse and Maya Yoshida were all on the scoresheet as Southampton trounced St Etienne 3-0.

Watford and Aston Villa shared a goalless draw in a game that was marred by an injury to Jack Grealish, who was taken to hospital after getting a knee to the ribs.

U.S. international defender John Brooks opened the scoring in a 3-0 win over Fulham, while fellow Bundesliga side Mainz defeated Newcastle 2-1 with Viktor Fischer's late goal.

Leicester City suffered a 1-0 defeat at Wolves, who got a goal from Ivan Cavaleiro, while West Brom also lost, 2-1 at Bristol Rovers.

Joselu scored twice in a 2-1 Stoke win at Bolton, before Jordon Ibe's strike helped Bournemouth win 1-0 at QPR. Andre Gray helped Burnley to a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, and Norwich and Brighton played out the same scoreline.

Callum McGregor scored twice in the opening 15 minutes as Celtic side trounced Sunderland 5-0 in their Dafabet Cup clash at the Stadium of Light.