Showcase: Arsenal FC wins the Community Shield against Manchester City. The defending champions shine, while almost nothing goes right for the Cup champions under new coach Enzo Maresca. He admits: “We still have a lot of work to do.”
This is how things could continue this season, especially in the Premier League: The game had barely started when the first goal went in. Champions Arsenal struck first in their clash with FA Cup winners Manchester City: Riccardo Calafiori scored the fastest goal in Community Shield history after just 25 seconds. Myles Lewis-Skelly assisted the Italian, and the Gunners were already leading at a time when many fans at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium hadn’t even taken their seats yet. The match was played there because Wembley was unavailable due to a concert.
Even after taking the lead, it was almost exclusively the champions who dominated in Cardiff: Not even half an hour had passed when the Gunners extended their lead to 2–0 with a header by Kai Havertz; the German’s goal was set up by captain Martin Ödegaard with a cross-field pass, and new signing Christos Tzolis laid the ball off to Havertz. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma didn’t look particularly good on that play.
And even after the break, it was a dominant display by the Gunners; this time, it took just three minutes before the ball found the back of the net. Once again, new signing Tzolis—who joined from Club Brugge this summer for 40 million euros to provide more power on the wing—provided the assist.
And the 24-year-old Greek player drove down the left wing and passed into the center to Ödegaard, who controlled and took the ball beautifully in the penalty area, held it up, and slotted it into the net. “Are you Tottenham in disguise?” the Gunners’ fans taunted their rivals with a well-known chant: “Are you Tottenham in disguise?”
Haaland isn’t the only one struggling under Maresca
In the showdown between Pep Guardiola’s former assistants, there really couldn’t have been a worse competitive debut for Enzo Maresca. As a result, the Italian will likely face (even more) scrutiny from City fans for the time being—though this would probably be the case for any of Guardiola’s successors. Maresca did win the second-division title with Leicester City in 2024 and claimed the Conference League and the Club World Cup with Chelsea in 2025. But fans of both clubs were not convinced by the often static style of play.
It wasn’t just City fans who were rubbing their eyes in disbelief; Erling Haaland was subbed out after less than an hour—due only partly to the World Cup-induced summer break. The usual super-goal-scorer looked lackluster, as did the rest of his teammates.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, meanwhile, were brimming with confidence after winning their first league title in 22 years. With a solid system and roster, even new signing Tzolis shone, and his performance already seems to have proven his value to the club. Arsenal had spent nearly 90 million euros on Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle; playing alongside Declan Rice could bring even more stability, but in Cardiff, the two struggled. City had even paid Nottingham a club-record 135 million euros for Elliot Anderson. Against Arsenal, he, too, contributed far too little.
On Friday, Arsenal kicks off the Premier League season against promoted Coventry City—something to look forward to. Ödegaard certainly is: “We played brilliantly. A great performance and a fantastic start to the season. We’ve shown that we’re ready. We want to go all out on the attack. Once you’ve gotten a taste of how good that feels, you want to do it again. We want to win everything. The Champions League is, of course, the big goal.”
And, of course, Arteta was also pleased after the Gunners’ 18th Community Shield victory—their first since 1930. But he was especially pleased with the performance: “That was a really good one. I was impressed. I told the players that I really enjoyed watching them play. Our midfield is very strong. We’ve improved in quality year after year.”
City, meanwhile, kicks off on Sunday against Marco Rose’s Bournemouth. There’s still a lot of work to be done. Ruben Dias said: “It’s frustrating. We weren’t good enough. A lot is changing right now—including, of course, with Enzo—but we’ll be ready for our next game. We know we have to keep working and that many challenges still lie ahead.“
And Coach Maresca: ”Unfortunately, the goal we conceded after 25 seconds affected the game. I think our reaction after that goal was pretty good, before they scored the second one.” In fact, Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had shown his class once or twice. Maresca therefore tried to put a positive spin on things: “We had three or four chances to score ourselves and tie the game. But unfortunately, we conceded the second goal, and then things got more complicated.” His conclusion, however, was spot-on: “We still have a lot of work to do.”
