Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City: Gunners sweep City aside in Community Shield
- adamhigginsuk
- Aug 10, 2014
- 4 min read
Back in the trophy hunt: Captain Mikel Arteta raises the shield aloft as Arsenal celebrated with their second piece of silverware in the space of three months (Picture from the FA.com)
ARSENAL claimed the first silverware of the new domestic season after easing past Manchester City in the Community Shield with a clinical 3-0 victory.
The Gunners were in command from the outset and a neat finish from Santi Cazorla opened the scoring midway through the first half.
Aaron Ramsey capped off a fine move to double the lead three minutes before the break and substitute Olivier Giroud sealed the win on the hour mark with an impressive 25-yard strike.
A weakened City side were much improved in the second half but the Premier League champions were comfortably beaten at Wembley in the traditional curtain-raiser.
After ending a nine-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup in May, Arsene Wenger’s team will be cautiously optimistic of making a greater impact in the campaign ahead having strengthened their squad during the summer.
The Citizens, who were competing in the Shield for the third time in four years, will be relatively unconcerned by the heavy loss in the absence of eight first-team players although it was a missed opportunity to lay down a marker prior to the start of their title defence away to Newcastle next Sunday.
Boss Manuel Pellegrini handed competitive debuts to goalkeeper Willy Caballero and midfielder Fernando but on-loan Frank Lampard and former Gunners defender Bacary Sagna did not feature along with the likes of captain Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero or Pablo Zabaleta.
Summer signings Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy and Calum Chambers all turned out for Arsenal with the latter operating at centre-back after the sale of captain Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona was confirmed earlier in the day.
Wenger boldly stated in the build-up that his side, who finished seven points behind City last term in fourth place, are no longer superior to any of their Premier League rivals.
And his belief was justified by a promising first-half performance as the Gunners dictated the tempo by imposing their attractive style of play.
£35 million buy Sanchez was lively down the right hand side and Jack Wilshere, one of three English starters in front of national boss Roy Hodgson, saw plenty of the ball in the opening exchanges.
From their first significant attack, City had a half-hearted penalty appeal waved away by referee Michael Oliver after 15 minutes when Samir Nasri’s powerful drive struck Debuchy on the top of the arm.
But Arsenal’s early enterprise was rewarded with the breakthrough six minutes later when City defender Dedryck Boyata, making his first appearance since January, was sucked out of position by Wilshere and Santi Cazorla took custody of the ball before arrowing a low shot into the bottom right corner.
For the big occasion: Cazorla also scored in the FA Cup final win over Hull City in May (Picture courtesy of BT Sport on Twitter)
The Gunners continued to flood forward purposefully as Yaya Sanogo, preferred to fellow Frenchman Giroud to lead the line, swept Cazorla’s inch-perfect pass wide of the post at the end of another slick move.
The first glimpse of the vanishing spray, which helps officials mark out defensive walls at free-kicks, came before Aleksandar Kolarov sent a left-footed curler harmlessly over the crossbar.
2012 Shield winners City struggled to contain the dominant north London side and found themselves two goals behind when Sanogo shrugged off Boyata to feed the onrushing Ramsey.
The Welshman, who scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final against Hull, took one touch to control before slamming an accomplished finish beyond the reach of Caballero.
With six substitutes permitted, both sides opted for changes aplenty at the break as Nacho Monreal slotted into a makeshift Arsenal back four while David Silva replaced Nasri in the City midfield.
The Citizens started the second half much brighter and went close to reducing the deficit when Stefan Jovetic pulled away from the outstanding Chambers to head Jesus Navas’s cross against the post before lashing the rebound over the bar.
The Montenegro international then brought a fine diving stop from Woijech Szczesny with a 15-yard shot after being picked out by Kolarov’s surging run and delivery.
But the positive outlook was nipped in the bud in spectacular style when Giroud bent a dipping effort into the top corner from 25 yards to put Arsenal out of sight just after the hour mark.
Joy unconfined: Olivier Giroud pumps his fists towards the Arsenal fans after opening his goal account for the season (Picture from Twitter)
A flurry of substitutions disrupted the rhythm as City withdrew the disappointing Yaya Toure and Edin Dzeko with recent signing Bruno Zuculini among those given a brief cameo.
Jovetic hooked an acrobatic effort over and Fernando dragged a shot wide as City continued to give their best efforts despite knowing their fate had already been sealed.
But as the game drifted through to its conclusion, it left Pellegrini with plenty of food for thought ahead of his second full season in charge.
Meanwhile, Arsenal, who last enjoyed success in the Charity Shield in 2004, will be filled with confidence leading into their Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
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