Arsenal
secured the Community Shield after they beat Premier League and FA Cup holders
Manchester City 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
City took the lead through
Cole Palmer in the 77th minute after the forward cut inside from the right and
curled a superb effort past Aaron Ramsdale and inside the far post. Arsenal,
however, grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser through Leandro Trossard, whose shot
was deflected past Ortega by Manuel Akanji to send the game to penalties.
Manchester City midfielder
Kevin De Bruyne crashed his spot-kick against the crossbar and Ramsdale saved
from Rodri before Fabio Vieira converted the winning penalty, Arsenal taking
the shoot-out to claim the first piece of silverware of the season.
It was the 17th time Arsenal
have won this trophy and there will be plenty of encouraging omens for them to
take from their performance. Debutants Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber
impressed. Fellow new signing Kai Havertz had a more mixed time, and should
have scored with a great chance in the first half.
City manager Pep Guardiola
will have noted that star striker Erling Haaland was quiet again, having ended
last season with one goal in eight games in all competitions.
One positive for City,
however, was the sight of De Bruyne coming on for the final half hour for his
first minutes since the Champions League final in June, when he came off with a
hamstring injury, albeit that he was uncharacteristically inaccurate from the
spot.
The match also provided an
early sign of what to expect from match officials in the coming season, with
players and coaches having agreed to a so-called “Participant Charter” that
means they will face stricter sanctions for bad behavior in matches.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was shown a yellow card in the first half for waving an imaginary yellow card after Rodri made a tactical foul to prevent a breakaway. Either side of that, two players — Arsenal’s Thomas Partey and City’s Julian Alvarez — were booked for kicking the ball away.
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