Community Shield always presents dramatic matches. Arsenal’s match against Manchester City at the event ended in a penalty shootout duel for the Gunners’ 4-1 victory. The match which took place on Sunday at Wembley Stadium was very exciting when Manchester City had led 1-0 in the 77th minute thanks to Cole Palmer’s shot.
Palmer’s figure, the 21-year-old player took a brilliant shot into the corner of the far post which was extraordinary from Phil Foden’s assist. The member of the England U21 squad looks set to have a shining season with City.
But the trophy that was in sight for Pep Guardiola’s squad was finally delayed. Arsenal’s new striker, Leandro Trossard managed to equalize in the 101st minute of normal time. The goal at the end of the match made the two teams have to shoot penalties to determine the winner for the Community Shield trophy in 2023.
In the penalty shoot-out, Arsenal won 4-1 over Manchester City. Two City players, Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri failed to find the net against Arsenal. Only Bernardo Silva managed to score. Meanwhile, the 4 Arsenal executioners all scored goals, namely Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka and Fabio Vieira so the final score was 4-1 for Arsenal.
With the success of winning the Community Shield trophy, Mikel Arteta’s squad are mentally ready to face the Premier League competition in mid-August as the new season. For the Manchester City squad, this failure should be a serious note. Pep Guardiola cannot rule out Arsenal’s squad this season.
They are challengers who could threaten City’s position in the race for the Premier League title. In that match, Arsenal played all of their best players, including their new recruits, such as Kai Harvertz, who was recruited from Chelsea. Pep Guardiola, City coach after the match said as quoted by Skysports (6/8/23): “Congratulations to Arsenal, we were close to winning the trophy. But in the last 15-20 minutes the first half they were better. The second half we were much, much better. We played a very good second half.”
But Guardiola now has to get used to the long extra time. It could be because of that the players have lost focus on maintaining excellence. Now the match will be that 100 minutes because of the longer overtime. But that’s football, you have to always be ready to face changes in the rules and be ready to live it well.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta welcomed this victory with joy. Naturally, Arteta feels optimistic about the 2023-2024 Premier League season. Mikel Arteta after the match expressed his joy as reported by Skysports above: “It feels great, there’s nothing better than winning a trophy at Wembley against the best team in the world, especially the way we did it.” Remember the tougher competition is yet to take place.
Arsenal must be better prepared this season to compete again with defending champions Manchester City for the Premier League title. It will be interesting to see how Arsenal can compete with the rest of the EPL clubs.
ASL
