sports
Calafiori’s fast start inspires Arsenal to big Community Shield win over Manchester City
For Enzo Maresca, a miserable first meaningful game in charge of Manchester City that began with Arsenal seizing the lead after 24 seconds ended with Mikel Arteta’s side lifting the Community Shield. Arsenal eviscerated City, Riccardo Calafiori’s smart early opener after Myles Lewis-Skelly’s brilliant pass seemingly leaving their opponents with irrecoverable damage. Kai Havertz doubled Arsenal’s lead on 28 minutes and Martin Ødegaard in effect sealed the win three minutes into the second half, taking great pleasure in fooling Gianluigi Donnarumma in the City goal before finishing. On this evidence, the post-Pep Guardiola era could be trickier than widely envisaged.
TL;DR
- Arsenal defeated Manchester City to win the Community Shield.
- Riccardo Calafiori scored the opening goal early in the match, followed by goals from Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard.
- Christos Tzolis was a standout performer for Arsenal, involved in all three goals.
- Manchester City appeared disorganized and lacked control, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma being particularly unconvincing.
- The victory sets a positive marker for Arsenal as they aim to build on last season's success.
- Manchester City's performance raised concerns for the start of their season under new manager Enzo Maresca.