Fastest Possible Nightmare for the New Boss
Twenty-three seconds. That’s genuinely all it took. Myles Lewis-Skelly — spending the week fending off transfer speculation about his own future — threaded a brilliant pass through to Riccardo Calafiori, who took it on the edge of the box and slotted it past Gianluigi Donnarumma before half the stadium had even sat down. Enzo Maresca’s first competitive game in charge of City, replacing Pep Guardiola, and it couldn’t have started much worse.
City did have a moment of their own not long after. Elliot Anderson, new at the club, whipped in a good cross for an unmarked Erling Haaland right on the edge of the box, but Haaland just couldn’t quite get there. That was about as close as City came all afternoon, honestly. Arsenal, missing Saliba, Rice, Timber and Saka, barely seemed bothered by it — just before the half-hour mark, Ødegaard picked out Tzolis with a cross, Tzolis nodded it into Havertz’s path, and Havertz did enough to force Donnarumma into knocking it over his own line. 2-0.
Ødegaard Rounds It Off Early in the Second Half
Nearly had a third before halftime too. Ødegaard forced another Donnarumma save from ten yards, Gvardiol cleared off the line to keep it 2-0 at the break. Didn’t matter much in the end — three minutes into the second half, Ødegaard went past both Gvardiol and Donnarumma and rolled it into an empty net. 3-0, game over.
Saka, back in the squad, somehow blazed a great chance over the bar from close range later on. Semenyo had City’s best look of the day and still never really tested Raya. Arsenal, so hard to break down all last season on their way to the title, barely looked like conceding once.
What It Means Next
Second Community Shield in three years for Arsenal, and their fourth win over City in this exact competition going back to 1934. Bit of a reversal too — City had actually won both previous meetings between these two earlier in 2026, a League Cup final and a league game, before Arsenal took the trophy that actually mattered, the league title itself. Rough start for Maresca in Manchester, and there’s already questions about how fast City can adjust to life without Guardiola.
Match Summary
Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City FA Community Shield — Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Sunday, 16 August 2026
Goals: 0+23sec Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal) 1-0 (assist: Myles Lewis-Skelly) 29′ Kai Havertz (Arsenal) 2-0 (assist: Christos Tzolis) 48′ Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal) 3-0
Result: Arsenal win the 2026 FA Community Shield 3-0, extending their unbeaten record against Manchester City in the competition.
For live Community Shield coverage and reaction, visit fawanews. Full results and fixtures at the official Arsenal FC website.
