Arsenal stormed to a 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the English football curtain-raiser to win the Community Shield title for the 18th time in the club’s history thanks to goals from Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz, and captain Martin Ødegaard.
The Premier League champions gave their fiercest rivals in recent history a taste of what is to come in the wake of Pep Guardiola’s departure, in a dominant yet clinical display at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
It was a day when Mikel Arteta had the fortune of calling on his best players, with David Raya making his first start since the UEFA Champions League final, while Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Martin Zubimendi were all named on the bench.
Like Manchester City, who have Rodri unavailable, the North Londoners were also without French defender William Saliba, who is still recovering from a back injury, although City did get to feature Elliot Anderson and Braut Erling Haaland.
How it Happened in Cardiff
Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have been far from convincing in their preseason, with recent losses to Dortmund and Real Betis, but that was put behind them immediately from kickoff in Cardiff, and a sorry City never really stood a chance.
Riccardo Calafiori sat down Gianluigi Donnarumma to produce the first goal just 25 seconds into proceedings, following a brilliant pass from Myles Lewis-Skelly after the Premier League winners passed the ball around excellently.
The Gunners continued to dominate and create danger, and ultimately got their reward two minutes before the half-hour, as Chritis Tzolis headed Martin Ødegaard’s cross across goal for Kai Havertz to nod past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The sorry goalkeeper was humiliated again, three minutes after the restart, as Tzolis registered his second assist of the day, and captain Martin Ødegaard showed cold calmness to send the goalkeeper the wrong way before slotting into the bottom corner.
The 3-0 victory makes the biggest result in the final in over a decade, since Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal beat the same team by the same scoreline in the 2014 final.
Jubilant Arsenal sends message of intent
The Premier League was the league of Pep Guardiola during his years at Manchester City, dominance that has not been seen over the same period in history, but Arsenal may be set to establish their own.
After finally escaping the shadows of Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta will be eager to kick off his own dominance era by taking advantage of the lack of stability at Arsenal’s closest rivals, and Sunday’s win only lets the cat out of the bag for the rest.
The Gunners are capable of blowing just anyone in the league away; however, their preseason form suggested they would need their top stars if they were to compete, but every thought of that has been cast away by Sunday’s performance.
Arsenal have never successfully defended a league title in the Premier League era, and they last did so almost 100 years ago back in 1933-34, but they may never have a better chance of changing that than this campaign.
Enzo Maresca left with a lot to ponder
Enzo Maresca has had a fine pre-season since returning to Manchester City earlier in the summer, but the loss to Arsenal suggests they are not in the right state to compete with Premier League heavyweights.
It’s a new era following the departure of Pep Guardiola, while players like Bernardo Silva, John Stones, and Rodri, who made that era click so well, have moved on.
New signings are being prepared to join Elliot Anderson and Geronimo Rulli, but if the club’s hierarchy had any doubts about investing further this summer, the performance against Arsenal is sure to change their stance.
Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernandez are heavily linked with moves to the Etihad before the end of the window, but with so many decisive players in their first season, it could be a year of adjusting rather than challenging for the Mancunians.
English football curtain has been raised
The season is now set to begin, and Arsenal have announced themselves as the team to beat. Their coronation last season came down to luck after they let their lead slip, but recent evidence shows it is time they dominated as they mean it.
For Manchester City fans, it is about rebuilding their homes, but unlike the time when Pep Guardiola arrived and took advantage of the unsettled top rivals, Enzo Maresca could find himself on the other side, as the victim.
Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool have all invested a lot since the start of last summer, and all these teams will be keen on challenging at the very top of the table, especially with the Londoners’ lack of European distractions.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
