Arsenal began the new season in emphatic fashion, defeating Manchester City 3-0 to win the Community Shield at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday.
The Premier League champions needed just 23 seconds to take the lead, with Myles Lewis-Skelly producing a superb pass for Riccardo Calafiori, who calmly finished past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Arsenal continued to dominate and doubled their advantage in the 28th minute.
New signing Christos Tzolis delivered a precise header across the face of goal, allowing Kai Havertz to direct the ball past Donnarumma.
Martin Odegaard then completed the scoring three minutes after the restart, capitalising on another assist from Tzolis before rounding Donnarumma and finding the net.
City struggled to cope with Arsenal’s intensity and attacking movement, while their defence repeatedly looked vulnerable.
Josko Gvardiol was forced to clear an Odegaard effort off the line shortly before half-time after Donnarumma had spilled the ball.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya also played a key role in preserving the clean sheet, denying Erling Haaland before Ben White blocked Jeremy Doku’s follow-up attempt.
Tzolis was particularly impressive on his Arsenal debut, becoming the club’s first player since Willian in 2020 to provide two or more assists in his first appearance.
The defeat marked a disappointing start to Enzo Maresca’s competitive reign as Manchester City’s manager following Pep Guardiola’s departure.
Arsenal’s victory also ended a run of three consecutive Community Shield matches being decided by penalties and represented their biggest win in the fixture since beating City by the same 3-0 scoreline in 2014.
The Gunners will now look to build on the impressive victory as they begin their defence of the Premier League title, while City face questions over their preparations under Maresca.
