If this was a glimpse of the Premier League’s new order then the rest had better watch out. By the time Martin Ødegaard sat Gianluigi Donnarumma down to make it 3-0 to the champions, the Arsenal party was in full swing. Those in red and white who had made the journey to south Wales could barely believe what they were watching, even if winning the Community Shield is unlikely to spark the same kind of celebrations that were seen on the streets of north London in May after ending a 22-year wait to win the title.
Having been forced to settle for three successive second-place finishes before finally reaching the summit, this time it was Manchester City’s fans who had to face the reality of being humbled by their closest rivals. As Viktor Gyökeres had put it beforehand: “Against City? We want to win.” That much was clear from the opening whistle at the Principality Stadium.
It was fitting that the first match of the post-Pep Guardiola era should pit two of his former assistants and pretenders to his crown against each other. On this evidence Mikel Arteta’s powerful Arsenal squad, which looks deeper than this time last year after the additions of Bruno Guimarães and Christos Tzolis, will head into the new season as clear favourites to defend their crown after blowing away Enzo Maresca’s City in the space of 48 minutes. The Italian had barely taken his seat in the dugout for his first meaningful match since replacing Guardiola when his new side found themselves trailing.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was a major factor in Arsenal finally getting over the line in May after being brought into the midfield engine room for the run-in when Martín Zubimendi had run out of gas. The teenager needed little more than 20 seconds to remind Thomas Tuchel what England were missing this summer with his brilliant pass for Riccardo Calafiori’s opener. Lewis-Skelly doesn’t turn 20 until next month but already looks a match physically for most – including City’s £116m new signing, Elliot Anderson.
Lewis-Skelly’s future has been the subject of speculation this week, with reports that he had been offered to Manchester United and Chelsea. But after dominating Anderson and the veteran Mateo Kovacic in partnership with the outstanding Guimarães, Arteta will surely not allow him to depart in the next fortnight. As for Guimarães, one typically aggressive challenge from the Brazil midfielder to dispossess Phil Foden was all it took for Arsenal’s supporters to fall in love.
The chants of “Bruno, Bruno” only amplified when he sprayed a crossfield pass perfectly into the path of Noni Madueke and City will have been relieved to see the back of him at half-time. By then, Kai Havertz had already made it 2-0 after a beautifully crafted goal involving Ødegaard and Tzolis, and City were hanging on for dear life. Seeing Declan Rice emerge for the second half was another reminder of Arsenal’s plethora of options, although the wisdom of Bukayo Saka returning so soon after England’s World Cup exploits remains to be seen in the long term.
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