Arsenal have opened their 2026-27 campaign in emphatic fashion with a 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Sunday, giving Mikel Arteta an early trophy as the Premier League champions began their title defence.
Riccardo Calafiori put Arsenal ahead after only 23 seconds, finishing after being played in by Myles Lewis-Skelly to score the fastest opening goal in the fixture for 58 years. Kai Havertz doubled Arsenal’s lead in the 28th minute, heading home after Christos Tzolis returned Martin Odegaard’s cross into the area.
City improved towards the end of the first half, with Erling Haaland forcing a save from David Raya and Ben White producing a timely block to deny Jeremy Doku, while a goal-line clearance also prevented Odegaard from adding a third before the interval.
Arsenal, however, quickly restored their dominance after the restart, cutting through City’s defence with a slick passing move that ended with Odegaard sitting down Gianluigi Donnarumma before calmly finding the net three minutes into the second half.
Bukayo Saka went close to adding a fourth but sent one effort into the side netting and later lifted another chance over the crossbar as Arsenal comfortably saw out the victory.
The result means Arteta has won all five of his Community Shield appearances, two as a player and three as a manager, while City manager Enzo Maresca was handed a difficult first competitive test following Pep Guardiola’s departure.
Arsenal will now turn their attention to the Premier League, while City must regroup before their opening league fixture against Bournemouth next Sunday.
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