Arsenal beat Manchester City 3-0 in Community Shield at Principality Stadium
Arsenal defeated Manchester City 3-0 at the Principality Stadium in the Community Shield on 16 August 2026, with Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard on the scoresheet. The victory saw Arsenal assert control early and leave Manchester City trailing by three within the first 48 minutes.
Arsenal’s win followed summer additions Bruno Guimarães and Christos Tzolis and the renewed attacking presence of captain Martin Ødegaard, factors the original report said make the champions clear favourites after the Community Shield triumph. Supporters at the Principality Stadium taunted City with chants such as “Can we play you every week?” while Arsenal’s celebrations recalled the scenes in May after the club ended a 22-year wait to win the title; the piece also recalled Arsenal’s run of three successive second-place finishes before finally reaching the summit.
Viktor Gyökeres’s pre-match words — “Against City? In a friendly? We want to win.” — were reflected in Arsenal’s early intent, with Myles Lewis-Skelly producing a brilliant pass within 20 seconds that set up Riccardo Calafiori’s opener. The report noted Lewis-Skelly had been a major factor in Arsenal’s title run-in in May after being introduced into the midfield when Martín Zubimendi had run out of gas.
The article records that Lewis-Skelly, who “doesn’t turn 20 until next month,” dominated Manchester City’s new £116m signing Elliot Anderson and the veteran Mateo Kovacic in midfield, combining effectively with Bruno Guimarães. It added there had been recent reports Lewis-Skelly had been offered to Manchester United and Chelsea, and suggested Arsenal would be reluctant to let him leave in the coming fortnight.
Bruno Guimarães’s aggressive challenge to dispossess Phil Foden and a crossfield pass into the path of Noni Madueke drew chants of “Bruno, Bruno” from Arsenal fans, the report said, and City were described as relieved to see him go off at half-time. Kai Havertz’s goal, fashioned from a move involving Ødegaard and Tzolis, made it 2-0 and left City struggling to contain Arsenal.
Declan Rice was introduced after half-time, and the report noted questions over Bukayo Saka’s early return following England’s World Cup exploits. Arsenal supporters sang “He said it’s not done,” in reference to Rice’s earlier post-match team talk at the Etihad, while Ødegaard’s return to form culminated in a cool finish to complete the scoring. At full-time Maresca was seen deep in conversation with his players and staff as some fans chanted “you’re getting sacked in the morning” toward the City bench.
The match was framed as the first meaningful fixture of the post-Pep Guardiola era that pitched two of Guardiola’s former assistants against one another, and the report added Enzo Maresca had barely taken his seat in the dugout when his side fell behind. Mikel Arteta was quoted this week saying Maresca has “the personality, the character and, especially, the knowledge” to be successful. With Rodri set to depart for Barcelona, the piece argued City must recruit at least one more central midfielder to partner Anderson and mentioned Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi and Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández as potential options.
After blowing away Enzo Maresca’s City in the space of 48 minutes, the report concluded Arsenal will head into the new season as clear favourites to defend their crown.