Arsenal rout Manchester City in Community Shield masterclass
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Arsenal's Martin Odegaard celebrates scoring their third goal with Kai Havertz.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Arsenal defeated Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield, showing strong intent to defend their Premier League title.
- New signings Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis impressed, contributing to Arsenal's dominant performance.
- Manchester City's new manager Enzo Maresca faces challenges as Arsenal look set for continued Premier League success this season.
AI generated
CARDIFF, United Kingdom – Arsenal powered to a 3-0 win against Manchester City in the Community Shield on Aug 16, delivering a swaggering statement of intent ahead of their Premier League title defence.
Mikel Arteta’s side used the annual curtain-raiser to the English top-flight season as an opportunity to prove their long-awaited title triumph has done nothing to sate their appetite for success.
The Gunners took just 24 seconds to show new City boss Enzo Maresca the standard required to keep up with the champions.
Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori scored his team’s first goal after 24 seconds.
PHOTO: EPA
Riccardo Calafiori’s quick-fire opening goal was followed by a clinical Kai Havertz header before half-time.
Arsenal overwhelmed sloppy City with their trademark intensity and Martin Odegaard netted after the interval to cap a resounding victory.
Kai Havertz scoring Arsenal’s second goal past Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PHOTO: ACTION IMAGES
The glamour friendly at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium also allowed Arteta to parade Arsenal’s close-season recruits.
Bruno Guimaraes, signed from Newcastle for £75 million (S$130 million), slotted into midfield with ease, while Christos Tzolis, lured from Club Brugge for £34 million, gave a lively display including two assists.
The north Londoners will start a campaign as champions for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
Already installed as favourites to win their first successive English titles since the 1930s, Arsenal look primed for a sustained spell as the Premier League’s pre-eminent force.
Their vibrant performance was the perfect warm-up before promoted Coventry visit the Emirates Stadium for the opening game of the Premier League season on Aug 21.
It was a dispiriting wake-up call for Maresca, who will have noted how much more dynamic and cohesive Arsenal looked compared with his spluttering team.
Pep Guardiola won 20 trophies in a glorious decade in Manchester, including the FA Cup and League Cup in his farewell season, but City have not won the title since 2024 and finished seven points behind Arsenal in second place last term.
Arsenal’s Bruno Guimaraes (centre) in action during the Aug 16 FA Community Shield match against Manchester City.
PHOTO: EPA
Hand-picked to succeed Guardiola after quitting Chelsea in January following a turbulent reign lasting less than two seasons, Maresca now knows it will take a huge effort to close the gap on Arsenal, starting with City’s opener at home to Bournemouth on Aug 23.
Rampant Arsenal
Arteta believes his players are still “hungry” for trophies, with their painful Champions League final loss to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties in May providing motivation for this season.
The Gunners took less than a minute to underline Arteta’s point with a beautifully crafted opener.
Myles Lewis-Skelly featured in Arsenal’s midfield despite being linked to Chelsea and Manchester United, and the teenager showed why he is in demand with a deft pass that split the City defence.
Calafiori surged onto Lewis-Skelly’s ball, evading City’s woeful marking to slot a composed finish past Gianluigi Donnarumma from 12 yards.
Arsenal defender Ben White standing over City defender Josko Gvardiol during the match.
PHOTO: AFP
The left-back’s goal was the quickest in the Community Shield since 1968 and rampant Arsenal struck again in the 27th minute.
Martin Odegaard was gifted space to float a cross to the far post and Tzolis, left unmarked by Abdukodir Khusanov, headed it back into the six-yard box, where Havertz climbed above Ruben Dias to nod home.
In his first showpiece occasion for City after his £116 million move from Nottingham Forest, England midfielder Elliot Anderson struggled to exert any influence.
City talisman Erling Haaland was largely anonymous, wasting two good chances in the first half.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice vying with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.
PHOTO: AFP
Arsenal captain Odegaard showed his Norway teammate how to do it three minutes after half-time.
Tzolis rolled a pass into Odegaard’s path and then slalomed through the City defence before leaving Donnarumma embarrassed with a clever dummy and close-range finish.
Only City, in 2019, have gone on to become Premier League champions among the previous 15 winners of the Community Shield.
On the evidence of their stroll in the Cardiff sunshine, Arsenal’s 18th Community Shield victory will not be the last silverware lifted by Odegaard this season. AFP