Arsenal looked as good as ever in Cardiff this afternoon, as they dismantled Manchester City to win the FA Community Shield.
Riccardi Calafiori opened the scoring for Arsenal inside the first minute, after being slid through by Miles Lewis-Skelly. They doubled their lead before half-time when Kai Havertz headed home from close range.
Martin Odegaard added a third early in the second half after he found himself with all the time in the world inside the City box before rolling the ball home.
As it happened
Both sides named full-strength sides, with Erling Haaland returning for Manchester City having missed pre-season following Norway’s World Cup run.
Arsenal took the lead before City had even touched the ball; a lovely passing move was rounded off when Calafiori broke free in the area and slotted past Gianluigi Donnarumma with a low left-footed finish, putting Mikel Arteta’s side ahead after just 25 seconds.
The Gunners continued their fast start when Christos Tzolis drilled a cross into the area, but it flicked up and was comfortably collected by Donnarumma. Noni Madueke got his first chance to properly run at the City defence in the 12th minute, winning a corner off Josko Gvardiol, but they couldn’t make the chance count.
City’s first look at goal didn’t come until the 17th minute, when a searching cross narrowly missed the head of Erling Haaland, who had wriggled free in the centre of the area. Their first shot on target followed shortly after, when Phil Foden shifted the ball onto his left foot before taking aim and forcing David Raya into an excellent save.
As they continued to push, Jérémy Doku broke into the area before being met by a ferocious but perfectly timed sliding tackle from Gabriel, prompting a roar from the Arsenal fans. Foden was shown a yellow card in the 24th minute for a foul on Tzolis.
Arsenal’s counterattacking threat was shown once again moments later, when Odegaard’s far-post cross was played back across goal by Tzolis and then headed into the bottom corner by Havertz, putting them two to the good.
Haaland looked to have broken free from Gabriel shortly after the goal, but the Brazilian was able to recover and put enough pressure on that Haaland fired over. Calafiori was shown the second yellow card of the game for simulation after going down in search of a penalty.
City came close to getting themselves back into it twice before the break, first when Raya made a superb close-range save to deny Haaland and then seconds later when Ben White performed an acrobatic block to send Doku’s effort over the bar.
Arsenal once again turned defence into attack, this time with White’s cross finding Calafiori at the back post, but the Italian was unable to direct his volley on target. They came even closer in injury time, when Odegaard’s tame effort squeezed under Donnarumma and was cleared off the line by Gvardiol, meaning Arsenal headed in at half-time 2-0.
Both sides made changes at the break, with City’s Doku making way for Jack Grealish and Guimaraes being replaced by Declan Rice for Arsenal. The Gunners picked up exactly where they left off, with Odegaard adding a third after he found himself with all the time in the world inside the City box, even squeezing in a fake shot to send Donnarumma out the way before rolling the ball home.
Gvardiol was shown a yellow card five minutes later, when he brought down Havertz inside the centre circle. More changes followed for City, with Haaland and O’Reilly making way for Marc Guéhi and Omar Marmoush. Grealish looked to be the difference maker and get City back into the game, but instead he wound up running himself down a coldesac of Arsenal defenders and losing the ball.
Elliot Anderson took aim from range as frustration began to build in the City ranks, his strike was easily caught by Raya. Enzo Maresca’s next changes saw Rayan Cherki and Rico Lewis replace Anderson and Foden. Meanwhile, Noni Madueke and Calafiori were replaced by Pierro Hincapié and Bukayo Saka.
Saka almost made an immediate impact, but could only find the side netting after cutting in on his left foot. The winger came close again 10 minutes later, when he was played through by Tzolis but a heavy touch allowed Donnarumma to race off his line and beat Saka to the ball.
Raya was forced into a stong save shortly after to deny Cherki’s long-distance effort. Arsenal changes followed, with Viktor Gyökeres and Martin Zubimendi replacing Havertz and Miles Lewis-Skelly. City’s final change came in the 78th minute, when Mateo Kovačic was replaced by Nico González.
Seconds later, Saka looked certain to add a fourth goal for the Premier League champions, but fired over from close range. At the other end, Semenyo looked to give City a lifeline but a combination of a block from Gabriel and a save from Raya kept him out.
A coming together on the halfway line between Odegaard and Grealish saw the former booked before making way for Ebereche Eze, for Arsenal’s final substitution. City won a free-kick in a dangerous area late in the game, as they continued to search for a glimmer of hope; however, Cherki’s delivery failed to beat the first man.
Marmoush was next up to try and carve out a chance for The Citizens, but a slightly loose touch was pounced upon by Gabriel, who calmly cleared his lines. The Arsenal defence continued to hold strong throughout injury time, confirming them as FA Community Shield winners once again.