"The hero of the night", "A beast" – Arsenal fans blown away by 22-year-old's performance after penalty shootout win against Bournemouth

Arsenal fans have lavished praise on Gunners goalkeeper Karl Hein for his heroics in a pre-season friendly win against Bournemouth in Los Angeles, United States.

After securing a 2-0 victory over Leyton Orient in their opening friendly held behind closed doors last weekend, the Gunners faced Bournemouth this Wednesday (July 24). Fabio Vieira scored the opener with a volley in the 18th minute before Antoine Semenyo restored parity for Andoni Iraola's side with a deflected strike in the 73rd minute.

In the resulting penalty shootout at Dignity Health Sports Park, Hein popped up as Arsenal's savior. He kept out Philip Billing's penalty, Bournemouth's second, before saving Ryan Christie's penalty to hand the north London outfit a 5-4 win in the pre-season friendly tie.

After the end of the clash, a Gunners fan lauded the Estonian on X:

"The hero of tonight, no Arsenal fans will pass without liking this"

Another Arsenal supporter hailed Hein for his latest performance on X:

"Hein is a beast."

Heaping praise on the former Nomme United goalkeeper, a fan wrote:

"Hein... no one else but him. Top performance."

A Gunners supporter joked about Hein's abilities, commenting on X:

"Hein can literally save a relationship"

Claiming that Hein should be loaned out this summer, a fan posted:

"Standout performance today definitely from Karl Hein. A couple of incredible saves, decent distribution and wins us the penalty shootout. Hopefully a good loan for him this season."

Hein, 22, has made just one appearance for Mikel Arteta's side since arriving from Nomme United in 2018. Earlier in the 2021-22 season, he recorded one shutout in five games during his loan stint at Reading.

Leicester City eye move for Arsenal winger

Taking to X, transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano claimed that newly promoted side Leicester City have opened talks to lure Reiss Nelson away from the Gunners. He wrote:

"Leicester City open talks with Arsenal for Reiss Nelson. Loan deal with obligation to buy, in talks over financial terms. Leicester, confident they can persuade Nelson if the clubs come to terms as he previously worked with Steve Cooper."

Nelson, 24, has struggled to get considerable minutes under his belt in the last two campaigns at his club. He has featured in 1231 minutes of first-team action, across 41 overall games in the last two terms.

Should Nelson join Leicester this summer, he would emerge as a crucial rotational option for them. He would provide healthy competition to both Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu Issahaku in the wide roles.