FA COMMUNITY SHIELD : ARSENAL VS MANCHESTER CITY – 16/08/2026 (PHOTO – RICCARDO CALAFIORI CELEBRATES)

I THINK IT MIGHT BE FAIR TO SAY THAT ENZO MARESCA’S FIRST COMPETITIVE MATCH AS MANAGER OF MAN CITY AGAINST ARSENAL IN THE COMMUNITY SHIELD DIDN’T COMPLETELY GO AS PLANNED TODAY (FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE.) BUT ARSENAL HAD A BLINDER! RICCARDO CALAFIORI SCORED INSIDE OF 30 SECONDS FROM THE START, WHICH CAUGHT EVERYONE UNAWARES, BUT ADDED SO MUCH DRAMA TO AN ALREADY EXTREMELY UNPREDICTABLE OUTCOME. ARSENAL MADE 411 PASSES IN TOTAL, WITH AN 86% PASS ACCURACY AND HAD 8 SHOTS, WITH 4 ON-TARGET, INCLUDING ANOTHER 2 CRACKERS FROM KAI HAVERTZ AT 28 MINS., AND MARTIN ODEGAARD AT 48 MINS! MAN CITY DID WELL STATISTICALLY, MAKING 539 PASSES, WITH A 91% PASS ACCURACY, (56% POSSESSION) AND 8 SHOTS WITH 5 ON-TARGET, BUT DIDN’T SEEM TO ‘GEL’ ENOUGH TODAY IN ORDER TO REACH-THE-BACK-OF-THE-NET. SO, AFTER 90 MINS. THE MATCH WENT TO ARSENAL 3 – 0. BUT, FOR ALL THOSE WATCHING THIS FIRST MATCH OF WORLD CLASS ENTERTAINMENT FOR QUITE A WHILE – IT WAS EXTREEMELY ENTERTAINING!

FA COMMUNITY SHIELD – ARSENAL VS MANCHESTER CITY – 16/08/2026

ENZO MARESCA AND MIKEL ARTETA SPEAK AFTER THE MATCH

MARTIN ODEGAARD AND ARSENAL SEEMINGLY SEND A MESSAGE TO THE REST OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE! YIKES!😊