Arsenal defeated Manchester City in the 2026 Community Shield at the Millennium Stadium today.
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. He picked out the bottom corner with a routine finish to open the scoring.
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.
Man City began committing more players forward and nearly pulled one back through Erling Braut 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.
Tzolis registered another assist in his first competitive appearance in the Gunners’ colours, teeing up Odegaard for the third goal 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, pulling all the strings in the middle of the park and dictating the tempo from start to finish.
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 them since March 2024.
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.
This was a perfect way for Arsenal to start the new season, especially after a heartbreaking loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the 2026 Champions League final.
It was a sobering reminder for City that life after Guardiola could be anything but straightforward.
