Arsenal enjoyed a terrific performance at Wembley this afternoon to lift the Community Shield with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Premier League champions Manchester City.
Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey struck first half goals to find the net in consecutive Wembley appearances, with Olivier Giroud adding his name to scoresheet on the hour mark with a beautiful strike for distance.
Arsenal started the game in superb fashion with the slick passing moves that you have come to expect from the North London side. Mathieu Debuchy and Alexis Sanchez were looking very impressive on the right, with their performances in the opening ten minutes helping the Gunners achieve 71% possession.
Arsene Wenger’s men continued to press as the match progressed and were rewarded shortly after the 20th minute mark. A quick passing move presented Santi Cazorla with a chance and he struck a low shot beyond the reach of new Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
City were struggling to create any threatening opportunities on Wojciech Szczesny’s goal but they had the odd chance on the break, with the lacking final ball letting them down. Still, the threat was there and Arsenal knew they had to be alert in order to keep the Citizens squad full of stars off the scoresheet.
Two minutes before the interval Aaron Ramsey provided the perfect response to the City breaks by striking home the second goal of the match. The build-up play was once again responsible for the opportunity, with Yaya Sanogo and Alexis both contributing to the goal.
The two goal cushion at the break was sentiment to the brilliant performance from the Gunners, whilst Manchester City looked lacklustre and absent. The Premier League champions never really got going and Arsenal capitalised- but there was still work to be done in the second period.
Changes for Arsenal saw Olivier Giroud, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Nacho Monreal replace Alexis, Sanogo and Koscielny, while City replaced Ex-Gunner Samir Nasri with David Silva.
The Premier League champions had the first real chances of the second half as Stevan Jovetic struck the post with a header, before forcing a save from Szczesny with a powerful low strike. City were banging on the door looking for a way back into the game but, for now, Arsenal were dealing with the pressure.
On the hour mark, Arsenal entered an even more comfortable position with a third goal. The ball was superbly taken down by Olivier Giroud, who used his strength to hold off the challenges of the opposition before unleashing a dipping shot beyond the reach of Caballero from 30-odd yards out.
Arsenal continued to dominate and keep City snatching at half chances but the pace of the game had declined dramatically. Calum Chambers was continually impressive at the back, along with Debuchy, whilst the midfield continued to to retain the ball well and ease the pressure on the back-line.