Key events
Half-time reading
Half time: Arsenal 2-0 Man City
Any concerns about Arsenal’s hunger can probably be put to bed. They’ve played with an intensity that belies the status of this fixture and lead through goals from Riccardo Calafiori (after 24 seconds) and Kai Havertz.
Havertz’s goal was made impressively by Christos Tzolis, the most eye-catching of the three debutants.
45+1 min: Gvardiol clears off the line
Havertz screws a cross from the left that is pushed away unconvincingly by Donnarumma. Odegaard’s shot dribbles towards goal and is booted off the line by Gvardiol.
43 min White’s chipped cross from the byline is volleyed over at the far post by Calafiori. That was a pretty good chance for Calafiori to get his second.
41 min Madueke lifts a shot straight at Donnarumma from 25 yards.
40 min Doku passes the ball square across the area to Haaland, who sweeps an early shot that is brilliantly saved to his right by David Raya. Seconds later Semenyo chips a short cross from the byline towards Doku, whose volley is admirably blocked on the six-yard line by White.
38 min Calafiori is booked for diving in the area. Khusanov lunged towards him but then pulled his foot out of the way. By that point Calafiori was committed to, a-hem, engineering contact.
37 min “Welcome back!” says Niall Mullen. “Who do you think will win this year’s Premier League, Will it be the team owned by the PIF, Abu Dhabi, Bezos, Ineos, Spectre, Skeletor, or Lord Vader?”
YAWN. Can’t you just chill, relax?
36 min: Chance for Haaland Doku’s excellent angled pass releases Haaland, who pulls away from Gabriel on the edge of the area before lifting over with his right foot. It bobbled a bit, but a sharper Beast would probably have scored.
34 min A very good cross from Foden finds no takers at the far post. He’s been City’s biggest plus so far – nowhere near his 2023-24 peak, but with some encouraging signs thereof.
31 min “Well, it’s all been very pleasant so far,” writes Charles Antaki. “The ball shuttled fluently up and down with some nice bits of skill, even-tempered all round with no filth; no cutaways to unknown celebrities; no hydration break; no touchline cops with guns, no threat of deportation, and, above all, no Gianni. Those introduced to the game at WC 2026 will hardly recognise it as football.”
29 min That was a cracking first assist for Christos Tzolis. As Ally McCoist says on TNT, he had to get enough power to ensure the looping header cleared the City defender (Dias possibly) and reach Havertez. Easier said than done when you are jumping almost away from goal.
Odegaard cut inside from the right and curled a trademark inswinging cross to the far post. Tzolis made a good run off Khusanov and strained his neck muscles to force a looping header back across goal. It was perfect for Havertz, who headed through Donnarumma and into the net.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Manchester City (Havertz 28)
Arsenal have been terrific, and now they lead by two.
26 min Gvardiol scampers across to left-back to make an important lunging tackle on Madueke. City’s defenders are closer to the seat of their pants than Arsenal.
23 min Doku beats White on the edge of the area, forcing Gabriel to come across to concede a corner. Fine defending, which he celebrates with a hard-faced roar.
The corner is well held by David Raya. He throws the ball out to Tzolis, who is cynically pulled back by Foden. That’s the first yellow card of the game.
22 min Madueke does well to keep possession despite stumbling on the edge of the area. A clever backflick releases Guimaraes on the right side of the area, but he takes too long and his cutback is cleared.
20 min: Raya denies Foden
Semenyo finds Foden in a pocket of space, 25 yards out. He whips an early curling shot that draws an excellent diving save from Raya. The ball bounced just in front so he did well to get it out of danger.
18 min Anderson, in the inside-right channel, flashes an early cross that evades Haaland 15 yards from goal. Haaland could have thrown himself into the Houchen position but decided against it. Nice cross though, the sort Kevin De Bruyne used to hit.
16 min Arsenal’s defensive shape has been excellent so far. City have had a few promising attacks, but everything has been in front of Gabriel and friends.
14 min Another Arsenal corner leads to a foul against Gabriel for pulling Khusanov’s shirt. Arsenal wanted the decision to go the other way.
13 min Madueke wins the first corner of the game off Gvardiol. Sustained shirt pulling will apparently be penalised this season, which should make Arsenal even more dangerous. On this occasion Madueke’s corner is headed away well by O’Reilly.
10 min “Glorious day in North London?” sniffs Paul Howarth. “You mean South Wales?”
My point exactly.
9 min City are having plenty of the ball in the middle third. The problem is when they lose it and Arsenal go straight for the jugular.
7 min Arsenal break four on three after a poor ball from Kovacic. Odegaard’s pass is unusually sloppy, behind Madueke on the edge of the area, and the attack peters out. But sheesh, Arsenal have started with intent.
6 min Calafiori finds the overlapping Tzolis, whose deflected cross is grabbed a little awkwardly by Donnarumma.
5 min Doku appeals unsuccessfully for a foul after being eased over the touchline, I think by White. Arsenal mean business.
3 min Arsenal get plenty of stick for their set-piece excellence, so credit where it’s due: the Dutch Total Football side of 1974 would have been proud of that goal.
2 min Has Enzo Maresca taken Manchester City as far as he can?
Two left-backs, one playing in midfield, combined for a lovely goal. Lewis-Skelly allowed a square ball to run across his body, 25 yards out, before reversing a devastating through pass. Calafiori ran onto it and calmly sidefooted past Donnarumma.
There’s a check for offside but the goal stands.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Man City (Calafiori 1)
Riccardo Calafiori scores after 24 seconds!
1 min Peeeeeeeeeeep peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Arsenal kick off from left to right, as we watch, on a gorgeous day in north London.
“I’m all for spicing up the Community Shield with a few gimmicks or a bit of rule-bending,” writes Andrew Goudie. “How about the losing side make a multi-million pound charity donation equal to the gate receipts? At the moment, if you win it matters and if you lose it’s just a friendly. Hope you’re well, and all the best for another season.”
Et tu, Goudie. (Doesn’t quite work, does it.)
A reminder of the teams
Matheus Nunes was injured in the warm-up so Vitor Reis has replaced him on the City bench.
Arsenal (4-3-3) David Raya; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Bruno Guimaraes, Lewis-Skelly; Madueke, Havertz, Tzolis.
Substitutes: Arrizabalaga, Hincapie, Saka, Eze, Dowman, Gyokeres, Merino, Rice, Zubimendi, Saka.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1) Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Anderson, Kovacic; Semenyo, Foden, Doku; Haaland.
Substitutes: Ait-Nouri, Cherki, Grealish, Guehi, Lewis, Marmoush, Nico, Reis, Rulli.
Referee Sam Barrott.
Ed Aarons
If there was one of his many assets Newcastle supporters grew to love above all about Bruno Guimarães then it was best summed up by the man himself after being unveiled as Arsenal’s new £75m signing. “That’s a tough one,” said the Brazil midfielder when asked what fans in north London can expect from him. “I would say I can pass the ball, run a lot and play like a warrior. I’ll never give up.”
After more than four years on Tyneside and having seen Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali precede Eddie Howe’s departure, Guimarães – who was devastated after missing a penalty for the Seleção in their defeat against Norway in the last 16 of the World Cup – was determined to seize his opportunity.
Ed Aarons
Even losing on penalties in the Champions League final could not take any of the gloss off last season as Arsenal ended their 22-year wait to be crowned Premier League champions. The celebrations have continued all summer after some wild scenes on the streets of north London on their return from Budapest, although concerns over the fitness of some key players after their exploits at the World Cup are mounting.
Arsenal have acted quickly to reinforce their midfield by signing Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle given Declan Rice’s workload must be managed very carefully after playing through neural pain in his hamstring and lower back since December. The arrival of Greece forward Christos Tzolis to replace Leandro Trossard also looks like a smart piece of business on the left-hand side of the attack. But with Vinícius Junior staying at Real Madrid, despite Arsenal’s best efforts, supporters will be hoping there is still a chance that the sporting director, Andrea Berta, could conjure up a heavyweight attacking signing before the window closes given Bukayo Saka’s fitness problems in recent seasons.
“The big point of interest in this game is around what Maresca’s City look like,” writes Joshua Keeling. “He’s a decent manager, but no more than that, in my view. He’s certainly not a generation-defining talent in the way that Guardiola was, and has shown nothing of his predecessor’s ability to adapt and change his style as the game changes.
”City will probably now go back to their pre-Guardiola level – contenders at the top end of the league, but not at the same level, just as capable of dreadful seasons like 2015-16 as impressive seasons like 2013-14. Personally, I think that can only be good for the league.”
And for the Arsenal, who have the potential to dominate the league for the next two or three. Doesn’t always work out like that, as we know from Arsenal’s title-winning sides of 1990-91 and 2003-04.
As for the managers, the contrast with ten years ago – when Guardiola, Mourinho and Conte arrived to join Klopp, Wenger and Pochettino – is fascinating. Many of the world’s most decorated managers now prefer the (relatively) quiet life of international football.
The Guardian’s fans’ network looks ahead to the new season: fresh talent, weak links, and who will be sacked first.
Will Unwin
Elliot Anderson has admitted England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina still pains him, but is hoping to use the confidence from his performances at the tournament to inspire the start of his Manchester City career.
Anderson will probably make his debut when City play the Premier League winners, Arsenal, on Sunday at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff for the Community Shield.
“It’s really hard,” Anderson said of England’s loss. “I’m still sort of struggling with that. There are highs and lows in football. It’s about how you bounce back.
“I’ve had three weeks to reflect on it, but now is a new season, you have to move forward.”
Jonathan Liew
Phil Foden says he is excited about working under Enzo Maresca, his new manager at Manchester City. We should call this exactly what it is: a very obvious barefaced lie. No doubt Foden is excited about playing football again, about challenging for trophies with his boyhood club, the new Premier League season, his new contract, a fresh start, etc, etc.
But let’s be real. Holidays are something you get excited about. Birthdays. Weddings. Amazon deliveries. The new Charli xcx album. Christmas. Playing for Enzo Maresca inspires plenty of emotions, but excitement would probably feature pretty low down a list. At best, you brace for Maresca. You steel yourself. You look in the mirror every morning and ask yourself whether you’re man enough for him. But if you’re excited, then he simply isn’t doing his job.
The small print
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No extra-time; a drawn match goes straight to penalties
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Six substitutions per team in three substitution windows
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Three falls and a submission
“So, the thing that never went away is back,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “I’ve never taken the Community Shield as a serious contest. But if Jonathan Wilson writes 2000 words about it, I should sit up and take notice.”
Team news
Bruno Guimaraes, Christos Tzolis and Elliot Anderson all start for their new clubs. Cristhian Mosquera replaces the injured William Saliba in the centre of Arsenal’s defence. Phil Foden is included in the City XI and Jack Grealish is on the bench after returning from his season on loan at Everton.
Arsenal (4-3-3) David Raya; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Bruno Guimaraes, Lewis-Skelly; Madueke, Havertz, Tzolis.
Substitutes: Arrizabalaga, Hincapie, Saka, Eze, Dowman, Gyokeres, Merino, Rice, Zubimendi, Saka.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1) Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Anderson, Kovacic; Semenyo, Foden, Doku; Haaland.
Substitutes: Ait-Nouri, Cherki, Grealish, Guehi, Lewis, Marmoush, Nico, Matheus Nunes, Rulli.
Referee Sam Barrott.
Will Unwin
Manchester City did not make a £120m bid for Enzo Fernández before Chelsea’s 5pm deadline on Friday but Enzo Maresca still expects a busy end to the transfer window, as the club seek incomings and outgoings. Chelsea, meanwhile, now expect the Argentina midfielder to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca takes charge of City for the first time in a major match on Sunday against Arsenal in Cardiff in the Community Shield but is a long way from finalising the squad he will have for the season. Fernández, who played under Maresca at Chelsea, remains a target for City, who could still test the water despite missing the deadline.
Mikel Arteta loves the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s a Championship Manager reference, don’t worry about it.
On the ball – guess the footballer
Recent studies have highlighted the myriad benefits of screen time, so why not get in on the action by trying The Guardian’s first daily football game?
Ed Aarons
Mikel Arteta has said he is relaxed about his Arsenal contract expiring at the end of the new season and believes his side will need to be better than last year to defend their title successfully.
The Premier League champions will face Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City in the Community Shield in Cardiff on Sunday and are heavy favourites to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since the 1930s. The departure of Pep Guardiola from their traditional rivals City means Arteta is now the Premier League’s longest-serving manager, with the Spaniard having joined in December 2019.
He signed a three-year contract extension in September 2024 after Arsenal finished as runners-up to City and had been expected to agree a new deal over the summer that would make him one of the highest-paid managers in the world. Arteta acknowledged on Friday that his priorities have been elsewhere this summer as he attempts to strengthen his squad before the new season but reassured supporters that he is fully committed to the club.
The doubt for anyone when a long-strived-for goal has been achieved is hunger. Arsenal waited 22 years for their 14th league title and, compounding the yearning, finished second three times in a row before finally lifting the Premier League trophy in May. The physical exertions of last season were immense – as seen by Declan Rice’s clear exhaustion and Bukayo Saka’s intermittent contributions at the World Cup, where William Saliba picked up a back injury – but so too was the emotional strain.
The first weeks of a new season after a major tournament, especially the World Cup, are often a little erratic anyway, but this feels like a particularly unpredictable start to a campaign. Nine of the 20 Premier League clubs have changed manager this summer. For the first time in 40 years, none of the five big managerial beasts of the Premier League era – Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger, José Mourinho, Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola – will be in charge of a club. There are unknowns and uncertainty everywhere, even at Arsenal. Mikel Arteta may be the longest-serving manager in the league but there are questions even there; it would be no great surprise if Arsenal were to start slowly.
Preamble
Football’s back, baby! Yeah, we know it never really went away, but let’s not allow reality to intrude upon a time-honoured Seinfeld reference. The Community Shield remains the symbolic start of the English season, a semi-serious meeting between the league champions and FA Cup winners that acts as a gentle gateway to nine months of hardcore football.
Arsenal and Manchester City have dominated English football for much of the last five seasons, yet this is only their second Community Shield meeting in that time and the fourth overall. There’s a simple reason: until 2025-26, Arsenal’s success came in the form of running City close in the league rather than winning the FA Cup.
When they met in 2023, it was because City won everything the previous season and Arsenal qualified as Premier League runners-up. Cole Palmer, who was about to leave for Chelsea, came off the bench to score a beauty before Leandro Trossard equalised in the 11th minute of added time. Arsenal won on penalties and celebrated wildly.
Mikel Arteta regards that victory, which snapped a run of eight successive defeats to City, as a stepping stone. Two months later they beat City in the Premier League for the first time since 2015; the following season they thrashed City and finished above them for the first time since 2015-16; and last year they held off City to finally claim their 14th league title.
Some will say it’s a load of nonsense – that this is mutton dressed as a trophy, oh and by the way the winners of the Community Shield haven’t gone on to win the Premier League since 2018-19.
But history – certainly the first draft – is written by the winners, or at least on their behalf. It’ll be the same today: either Arteta will confirm his status as the new kingpin of the Premier League or Enzo Maresca will win his first trophy (sic) as Manchester City manager. Baby, the Community Shield’s what you make it.
Kick off 3pm
Andrew Beasley
Bruno Guimarães has broken a very niche record. His £75m move to Arsenal is the most expensive transfer for a midfielder aged at least 28. This should not be taken too seriously given the previous record holder, Zinedine Zidane, moved 25 years ago from Juventus to Real Madrid, and would have cost far more in 2026 money. But it shows how highly the Gunners rate the Brazilian to have spent so much on a player who will be in his 30s before the end of next year. It is a transfer for today, not tomorrow.