Video: with a hat-trick, Arsenal toy with City to clinch the English Community Shield
Arsenal strike hard
Arsenal outclassed Manchester City on Sunday to lift the Community Shield, brushing City aside 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and claiming the trophy for the 18th time in their history.
The reigning Premier League champions came flying out of the blocks. Just 23 seconds had gone when Riccardo Calafiori fired them in front, latching onto a superb pass from Myles Lewis-Skelly.
That early lead did nothing to slow them down. The Gunners stayed on the front foot for the full 90 minutes, kept looking the more dangerous side and poured forward at the City goal.
City, by contrast, barely turned up across either half. Bar a handful of rare openings, they were left chasing shadows as Arsenal ran the show.
Keeping their foot on the gas, Arsenal doubled the lead in the 28th minute. Martin Odegaard swung in a cross, new signing Christos Tzolis nodded it on and Kai Havertz headed home.
City saw plenty of the ball but never troubled David Raya, and the first half ended with the Gunners two goals up.
Enzo Maresca, City's new boss, threw on Jack Grealish, Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki after the break in a bid to spark his side into life. Nothing changed, not the performance and not the scoreline.
Arsenal, meanwhile, kept their grip on the game and added a third through Martin Odegaard in the 48th minute. A brilliant pass from Tzolis released the Norwegian, who burst into the box and slotted past Gianluigi Donnarumma with ease.
With the game won, Mikel Arteta rang the changes to rest his key men and hand minutes to others, chief among them Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze.
City looked to have downed tools after the third, and the Gunners squandered a string of further chances that could have made the margin even greater at the start of the English season.
A defeat this heavy will only fuel doubts among City supporters, coming after the departure of Pep Guardiola at the end of last season and Enzo Maresca stepping into his shoes.
