Arsenal cruise past Leverkusen; Villa beat Bilbao

Arsenal continued their pre-season preparations with an impressive 4-1 win over German champions Bayer Leverkusen at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners, playing their first home game since the final day of last season, raced into an early 2-0 lead through goals by Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard.

Gabriel Jesus capitalised on a loose Leverkusen throw-in to run clear and make it 3-0 before the interval.

Bukayo Saka came off the bench to create the fourth with a clever cut-back, which former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka helplessly prodded towards Germany forward Kai Havertz who reacted quickly to score.

Leverkusen, who finished unbeaten in last season’s Bundesliga, claimed a late consolation through Adam Hlozek.

Arsenal are at home again on Sunday when they face Lyon in the Emirates Cup.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Cameron Archer scored a late solo winner as Aston Villa edged past Athletic Bilbao 3-2 at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium.

Villa had been pegged back twice before Archer raced onto a long ball and rounded the goalkeeper to seal victory.

Jacob Ramsey opened the scoring after a neat team move but Bilbao drew level through Yeray Alvarez.

Jaden Philogene handed Unai Emery’s side the advantage once again on the hour mark but Bilbao equalised for a second time through Gorka Guruzeta’s smart finish.

Villa end their pre-season campaign against Borussia Dortmund at the German team’s Signal Iduna Park on Saturday.