Arsenal Captain, Martin Odegaard, put up a man-of-the match performance to inspire his team to Community Shield victory against Manchester City.
The Mikel Arteta’s team was exciting to watch from start to finish as they thumbed up City 3 : O at Cardiff Stadium some hours ago.
Odegaard was ever-present in Arsenal’s attack, spraying defence-splitting passes from the midfield.
Myles Lewis-Skelly, who started for Arsenal from the midfield, teed off Italian international Riccardo Calafiori to slot home the first goal under 23 seconds at the near post as Gianluigi Donnarumma ,in goal for City, dived in the wrong direction to the left.
New signing, Christos Tzolis, made his first assist for Arsenal as he nodded the ball towards Kai Havertz who headed home the second goal beyond the despairing Donaruma.
Arsenal had a dominant display, spraying a lot of neat, short effective passes which may indeed be a sign of what opposing teams should expect in the new 2026/2027 Premier League season that is starting on August 21, 2026.
Odegaard sealed the win for Arsenal in the second half with a team goal after being found by Tzolis for his second assist of the match.
Another new signing, Brazilian international, Bruno Guimaraes, showed flashes of his quality and could have made a better use of a lay off from Noni Madueke but his delayed cut-back could only find a City player.
Arsenal could have scored more goals but Bukayo Saka fluffed two decent chances in the second half.
David Raya, in goal for Arsenal, made a number of clean saves from Antoine Semenyo and a tame effort from Erling Haaland from inside the 18-yard box.
City, under new coach Enzo Maresca, going by this match, have a lot of questions to ask about their defence, with the start of the new Premier League season just six days away.
At the end of 90 minutes, Arsenal take home the 2026 Community Shield (a square-up between the Premier League winners and the FA Cup winners) and have made a clinical dress-rehearsal for the new Premier League season.