Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City: Gunners Cruise to Community Shield Victory

Arsenal claimed the first trophy of the new season, sweeping aside Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield.

Riccardo Calafiori set the tone almost immediately, finding the net after just 24 seconds to give the Gunners a dream start. Kai Havertz added a second midway through the first half, and Martin Odegaard struck soon after the break. From there, Arsenal managed the game with little fuss in Cardiff.

Arsenal and Manchester City both fielded strong line-ups, even with the World Cup’s impact on player fitness still being felt. Mikel Arteta had to make do without Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi from the start, as all three had only just come back to training after their extended breaks and were named among the substitutes.

There were first competitive Arsenal starts for Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis, while Myles Lewis-Skelly kept his place in midfield. At the back, Cristhian Mosquera stepped in alongside Gabriel Magalhaes, with William Saliba out with injury.

Arsenal left little time to make an impression.

24 seconds into the match, Myles Lewis-Skelly let the ball run across his body and slipped a clever reverse pass through the City defence. Riccardo Calafiori, bursting forward from left-back, kept his composure to slot past Gianluigi Donnarumma and hand Arsenal an instant lead. 

City tried to settle by keeping the ball, but Arsenal looked a threat every time they broke forward. Tzolis found space down the left, with his deflected cross collected by Donnarumma. Moments later, Martin Odegaard had a four-on-three break after Mateo Kovacic lost possession, but the chance fizzled out.

David Raya was tested for the first time in the 20th minute. Antoine Semenyo picked out Phil Foden in space outside the area, and Foden’s curling shot bounced awkwardly in front of Raya, but the keeper reacted sharply to push it clear.

The Gunners continued to try and find their second, with Noni Madueke producing a clever backheel to release Guimaraes inside the area, only for the Brazilian to take too long over his final ball as he looked to pick out an Arsenal forward.

A searching cross from Martin Odegaard found Tzolis at the back post, who headed back across goal for Kai Havertz, the German directed his header towards goal, with Donnarumma’s failed save landing the ball into his own net to double Arsenal's lead.

City kept pushing before the break with Arsenal relying on Raya to keep their two-goal cushion intact. Erling Haaland was among those to go close as Enzo Maresca’s side enjoyed their best spell of the half. 

After the break, Declan Rice made his return to Arsenal colours since winning the league. Replacing Guimaraes after the Brazilian’s first competitive 45 minutes for the club.

Just three minutes into the second half, Arsenal added their third.

Tzolis with his second assist, playing a low pass to Odegaard in the City box. The Arsenal captain sitting Donnarumma down before calmly passing the ball into the back of the net.

In reply, Maresca made some changes, with Haaland being one of those players withdrawn, while Arteta was then able to start bringing back some of his returned internationals.

At the hour mark, Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapié replaced Madueke and Calafiori, with the Arsenal number 7 creating an opportunity for himself before driving the ball into the side-netting.

No great pressure was then placed on Arsenal, since with a three-goal lead Arteta's team were able to control the match and keep rotating the players who had only just returned from the World Cup.

The city could not find a way past Raya and thus managed to secure a clean sheet for an Arsenal defence which was missing both Saliba and Jurrien Timber.

The final whistle meant that Arsenal have won their 18th Community Shield, their sixth win in a row in the competition, going unbeaten since 2005.

More to Arteta's advantage, his team managed to secure a convincing victory against one of the sides expected to challenge them for the Premier League title in their first competitive match of the season.

The focus for the Gunners now turns to the league, facing a short turnaround before they welcome newly promoted Coventry City to the Emirates Stadium to begin their Premier League title defence.