Arsenal Win Community Shield After Beating Manchester City, Arteta: We Beat The Best Team In The World

Arsenal won Community Shield after beating Manchester City. (Photo: Twitter/@ArsenalFC)

JAKARTA - Arsenal won the Community Shield trophy for the 2023/2024 season. The Gunners beat their rivals in last season's Premier League title race, Manchester City.

Arsenal won 4-1 on penalties over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 6 evening WIB. The match had to be continued to the tos-tosan round after the two teams drew 1-1 until the second half ended.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta enthusiastically welcomed his team's success. He admits it feels great to beat the best team in the world.

"It feels great. I didn't think it would be much better than winning trophies at Wembley against the best team in the world in the way we did," Arteta said after the game, as quoted by LiveScore.

City had opened the scoring through young Cole Palmer's goal before the Gunners dramatically equalized in injury time.

The Citizens dominated possession from the early minutes of the game, but they struggled to penetrate Arsenal's defense.

City's first chance came in the 15th minute with Rodri's shot from outside the penalty box, unfortunately the ball was still wide of Aaron Ramsdale's goal.

Arsenal responded with Kai Havertz's shot from close range in the 25th minute, but Stefan Ortega was able to push the ball. Gabriel Martinelli failed to grab the rebound ball.

The Gunners had another chance in the 40th minute. This time Saka stabbed from the left side of City's defense before giving a pull pass which was greeted by Haverzt's strike which Ortega could still push.

Until the first half ended, the score remained 0-0.

The second half started, City still dominated possession and pressed Arsenal from the start. In the 52nd minute, John Stones headed home Julian Alvarez's koner's ball which Ramsdale could parry.

City included Kevin De Bruyne and Colin Palmer to replace Haaland and Mateo Kovacic in the 64th minute.

The deadlock also broke in the 77th minute when City managed to score a goal through Palmer. Starting from the counter-attack initiated by Foden, the ball was directed forward to the penalty box, but Kieran Tierney failed to get away well.

The ball fell at De Bruyne's feet and immediately passed to Palmer on the right side of the penalty box. Palmer then curled his left foot at the far post of Ramsdale's goal. The score became 1-0.

City almost doubled their lead in the 82nd minute had Rodri's header not been pushed over by Ramsdale.

City's victory in sight had to disappear when Arsenal could dramatically equalize the score to 1-1 in the 111th minute. Starting from a corner, City's players failed to throw the ball and fell on Saka's feet who passed it to Leandro Trossard.

Trossard outwitted one player before shooting which made the ball hit Manuel Akanji until he changed course and left Stefan Ortega dead. The 1-1 score lasted until the second half was over and the match continued on penalties.

In the shootout drama, four Arsenal kickers successfully carried out their duties. Meanwhile, two City kickers, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri, failed to enter the ball so that the North London team won 4-1.

Arsenal's line-up (4-3-3): Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, Gabriel (Emile Smith Rowe 87'), William Saliba, Jurrien Timber (Kieran Tierney 78'); Thomas Partey, Declan Rice (Edward Nketiah 81'), Martin Odegaard; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli (Leandro Trossard 87'), Kai Havertz (Fabio Vieira 87').

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Stefan Ortega; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji; Rodri, Mateo Kovacic (Kevin De Bruyne 64'); Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez; Erling Haaland (Cole Palmer 64').