Maresca after Arsenal's hat-trick: I feel disappointed, the early goal affected us

The Italian coach declares: there is something wrong, but it is only the beginning

Enzo Maresca cut a frustrated figure after his Manchester City side slumped to a heavy 3-0 defeat against Arsenal in Sunday's Community Shield.

Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard were all on target as Arsenal claimed the trophy for the 18th time in their history.

Maresca told BBC Radio 5 Live afterwards: "I think the goal we conceded after 25 seconds unfortunately affected the course of the match at that moment. I think our reaction was good before the second goal, as we had three or four chances to score and equalise, but unfortunately we conceded the second goal, which made things more complicated."

That early setback clearly rankled. "I feel disappointed about that because the level of the teams in this kind of match is very close, and when you concede a goal, it becomes difficult, but I think the performance after the first goal was very good, and we created chances, but again, the 2-0 scoreline was more complicated," he said of the opener.

The Italian, taking charge of his first competitive match since succeeding Pep Guardiola, who left the Etihad at the end of last season, refused to hit the panic button. "There is something wrong, but it is just the beginning. We will start the Premier League next Sunday, and then the focus must be on that."

He signed off: "We have a lot of things to work on. The season has just started, so there are many things we need to improve, but even when we win matches, there are things we need to improve."