Arsenal put Manchester City to the sword in the 2026 Community Shield, beating the ten-time English champions 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium.
The curtain-raising fixture of the English top-flight club season returned to Cardiff for the first time since 2006.
Man City had hoped for a strong start to life after Pep Guardiola, but Riccardo Calafiori set the tone for Enzo Maresca’s embarrassing touchline debut just 23 seconds into the game.
A defence-splitting pass from Myles Lewis-Skelly put the Italian defender one-on-one with Gianluigi Donnarumma, who had no chance, as the former Bologna star picked out the bottom corner with a routine finish to open the scoring.
Despite a dismal start, City grew into the contest after falling behind, but they struggled to muster clear-cut chances against Mikel Arteta’s well-oiled defensive machine.
When it looked like the Cityzens could tip the balance scales in their favour, Martin Odegaard’s cross found Christos Tzolis on the far post.
The marquee summer signing headed the ball back into the six-yard box straight into the path of Kai Havertz, who had no problems beating Donnarumma with a close-range header.
Faced with a two-goal deficit midway through the first half, Man City began committing more players forward and nearly pulled one back through Erling Haaland, but David Raya made a superb save to thwart the Norwegian’s shot.
City almost got punished for Haaland’s miss on the stroke of half-time. However, Ruben Dias made a last-ditch effort to clear the ball off the line after Odegaard’s feeble attempt from point-blank range.
Dias’ heroics failed to rouse City from their slumber, as Arsenal continued to dominate proceedings after the restart.
After setting up Havertz, Tzolis registered another assist in his first competitive appearance in the Gunners’ colours, teeing up Odegaard for the North London giants’ third at the beginning of the second half.
Odegaard’s first touch was brilliant, but he then made Donnarumma look silly with a simple dummy before calmly slotting the ball into the net to crown his stellar performance in Cardiff.
The Norwegian midfielder was too hot to handle today, pulling all the strings in the middle of the park and dictating the tempo from start to finish. And it was a well-deserved ‘Man of the Match’ award for the Gunners skipper.
Maresca made all six changes in the second half, yet Man City couldn’t find a way past Arsenal’s backline and ultimately had to settle for their first scoring blank against the reigning Premier League champions since March 2024.
On the other hand, Arteta won his second Community Shield trophy after beating City on penalties in the 2023 showpiece, helping Arsenal secure their 14th triumph in this competition.
City’s battering could’ve been even worse had second-half substitute Bukayo Saka not squandered two glorious chances, but it’s also worth noting that they could’ve scored at least once themselves.
After denying Haaland in the first half, Raya came up huge again in the latter stages, making a stunning diving save to parry away Antoine Semenyo’s thunderous effort from an acute angle.
For Arsenal, this was a perfect way to start the new season, especially after a heartbreaking loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the 2026 Champions League final.
As for Man City, it was a sobering reminder that life after Guardiola could be anything but straightforward.