(MENAFN- Arab Times) Teenager Chuba Akpom netted a hat-trick as Arsenal reached the final of the invitational Asia Trophy against Everton with a 4-0 win over a Singapore Select XI at the National Stadium on Wednesday. The England under-20 international fired home a close range effort on the half-hour, converted a 76th minute penalty and then completed his treble four minutes later to give the FA Cup holders an emphatic win in the first match of their pre-season.
Jack Wilshere also converted a penalty for the Gunners as they set up a meeting on Saturday against Everton, who beat Stoke City in a penalty shootout earlier in the day following a goalless draw between the two Premier League sides.
Arsenal broke the deadlock after catching the home side on the counter-attack on the half-hour mark. Alex Iwobi's pass picked out Wilshere on the right of the Singapore box and although Baihakki Khaizan made a fine tackle to halt the England international, Akpom picked up the loose ball and blasted past goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud from close range.
Akpom went close to adding a second in the 35th minute when Iwobi sent him clear but Izwan was quickly off his line to smother the youngster's effort.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain managed to slide the ball past Izwan on a one-on-one early in the second half but saw his effort cleared off the line by Madhu Mohana.
However, the visiting side's pressure eventually told when they won a penalty in the 61st minute after Mathieu Debuchy went down under challenge by Sirina Camara and Wilshere made no mistake from the spot as he sent Izwan the wrong way.
With the home side tiring, Arsenal won another penalty in the 76th minute after Izwan brought down Jon Toral and Akpom fired home to make it 3-0.
The 19-year-old rounded off his excellent evening by netting his third goal and Arsenal's fourth with 10 minutes left after rising unmarked to head home a Hector Bellerin cross.
Earlier Tim Howard made a crucial save to deny Marco Van Ginkel as Everton beat Stoke City in a penalty shootout to reach the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy.
Following a goalless draw between the Premier League sides at Singapore's National Stadium, the American goalkeeper got a strong hand to turn away Van Ginkel's effort in the second round of the shootout to give his side the upper hand.
With all of the other spot kicks successfully converted, Phil Jagielka found the top right corner with Everton's final attempt to seal a 5-4 victory.
With both teams still in the early stages of preparations for the new Premier League season, the match at Singapore's National Stadium was a low tempo affair with few clear-cut chances.
Stoke had the best opportunity of the first half after 11 minutes when Oliver Shenton's low cross from the left found Peter Odemwingie, who blazed wastefully wide from 10 yards.
Jagielka then made a superb last-ditch tackle to deny Marko Arnautovic after Tony Hibbert's slip had looked like giving the Austrian striker a clear run on goal in the 28th minute.
With half-time looming, Romelu Lukaku ran on to Steven Pienaar's ball from the left and tucked the ball into the Stoke net only to see the effort disallowed for offside.
Half-time substitute Steven Naismith almost made an immediate impact for Everton at the start of the second half as he burst clear of the Stoke defence but saw his effort tipped over by goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard.
On the hour mark, Odemwingie's low ball from the right picked out Stephen Ireland whose first-time effort at the near post was well stopped by Howard.
Just seconds later, Gerard Deulofeu was sent clear at the other end by Naismith but his weak side-foot shot was easily saved by Haugaard.
With seven minutes left, Naismith wriggled his way through on the left channel but was unable to beat Haugaard from close range.
And in the final minute, Lukaku muscled his way past a pair of Stoke defenders but shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
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