Barca Beats Tottenham Hotspur

Summer signing Arthur marked his Barcelona bow with a mouthwatering goal, as the La Liga champions beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in Pasadena, California on Saturday night.

Both sides were without their big names for the International Champions Cup clash, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris all still recovering from their exertions at the World Cup, AFP reported.

But Arthur, Barcelona’s $46.7 million signing from Brazilian side Gremio, caught the eye with a lovely first-half finish, to add to Munir’s opener for the Catalans.

Spurs had struggled to exert themselves in the opening 45 minutes, but after Barcelona made a raft of changes at the interval, Mauricio Pochettino’s men leveled proceedings with two goals in as many minutes. Son Heung-min and Georges-Kevin N’koudou both pounced on the rebound to profit from suspect defending.

Barcelona won the penalty shoot-out which followed, with new 41 million euro signing Malcom converting the decisive spot-kick.

Malcom was a whisker away from marking his first Barcelona appearance with a 65th minute goal when he took on right-back Serge Aurier and fired in a low shot towards the near post which was smartly diverted behind by Michel Vorm.

In the subsequent penalty shoot-out, Anthony Georgiou missed for Spurs, with Barcelona converting all five of their spot-kicks.