Arsenal vs Manchester City Community Shield 2026 Live Score Updates: ARS take on MCI in Cardiff. (AP)
Enzo Maresca endured a nightmarish first competitive match in charge of Manchester City as Arsenal scored inside 24 seconds before powering to a 3-0 victory in the Community Shield on Sunday. English soccer’s annual season curtain-raiser between the reigning Premier League (Arsenal) and FA Cup (City) champions offered a chance for an early assessment of the two teams most likely to challenge for the big trophies this campaign.
While Arsenal delivered a statement performance – not least by scoring after 23 seconds through Riccardo Calafiori – at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, there might be some early concerns for City and Maresca at the start of the post-Pep Guardiola era.
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Kai Havertz headed home the second goal in the 28th through the grasp of City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and Martin Odegaard ran unchallenged into City’s area before sitting down Donnarumma with an outrageous dummy and slotting a finish into an unguarded net in the 48th.
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Arteta’s Arsenal are not the most beautiful. Not the most free-flowing. But relentless, organised, and extraordinarily hard to beat. (AP Photo)
How Arteta built Arsenal’s first title in 22 years – on trust and a medical he never had
You could hear the chuckles in the newspaper headlines. As a reaction to their 8-2 humiliation by Manchester United, Arsenal had gone on a desperate trolley dash to buy any footballer available. One of the five players Arsene Wenger signed on transfer deadline day in 2011 almost did not make it. Paperwork delays meant there was no time for a medical. Arsenal were ready to give up on the signing.
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