Arsenal beat “almighty” Manchester City to win the coveted FA Community Shield after an action-packed match at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 6.
Mikel Arteta-led team defeated City in a match that stretched to penalty shootout – with the London team leaving with a victory.
The Gunners have drawn first blood against Manchester City by beating them ahead of the new campaign at Wembley Stadium.
Leandro Trossard’s late deflected shot canceled Cole Palmer’s opener for City and sent the game to penalties where the Gunners prevailed.
Mikel Arteta’s side looked to have lost the match after substitute Cole Palmer’s sublime opener, but a leveler 11 minutes into stoppage time by Leandro Trossard’s heavily deflected shot rescued a 1-1 draw to force a shoot-out.
Pep Guardiola’s men dominated the game in the early minutes but they failed to make any significant impact.
Arsenal on the other hand, who gave their trio of summer signings debuts from the start, had better chances in the first half.
Man City stepped up in the second half with Palmer finding the net, but Trossard’s equalizer completed the remarkable turnaround from the spot.
Manchester City will begin their Premier League title defense against newly-promoted Burnley coached by Vincent Kompany on Friday 11 August 2023.
Arsenal will be hosting Nottingham Forest on Saturday 7 August 2023 in a lunchtime kick-off at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal Players’ Reaction To Community Shield Victory
Some of Mikel Arteta’s men took to their social media accounts to write about their Community Shield victory against Manchester City.
The new kids on the block already expressed their delight in lifting a new trophy for the new club.
Former West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice who joined Arsenal in the summer after they paid £105m to the Hammers with £5m in add-ons, took to his Instagram page to celebrate the win, he wrote: “First trophy for The Arsenal! ❤️🏆”
Another new kid on the block Kai Havertz who was signed from London rivals Chelsea for a fee worth £65m in the summer, took to his Instagram page to celebrate like Rice, saying: “Hopefully the first of many in red ❤️”
The Netherlands international on his Instagram page wrote: “𝗪𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘆 🟰 🔴⚪️ The Community Shield 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝘀 in London 🏆”
William Saliba also took out time to celebrate, he wrote on his account saying: “The perfect start but time to fight for more.”
Declan Rice also seized the opportunity to comment on his post with a simple post saying: “RR.”
Gabriel Magalhães who paired with Saliba at the back for Arsenal also shared images of the win.
On his Instagram page, he wrote: “Proud of this team! Great start to the season, can’t wait to see you all at the Emirates next weekend!! Tks GOD 🙌🏾❤️🔥.”
The hero of the night Aaron Ramsdale – who saved Rodri’s penalty – is not left out too as he also shared snaps with a caption.
The England International captioned it: “Start as mean to go on Gunners! 🏆” with Declan Rice in the comments again, this time with a “Waaaaazup” reply.
Ghana international Thomas Partey was not left out of the party as he also reacted to winning his first silverware for Arsenal.
Partey shared pictures on Instagram and wrote: “Proud of being part of this amazing team! Big thanks to everyone supporting us 🙏🏾”
Martin Odegaard, the captain of Arsenal, also did his bit off the pitch as they celebrated.
Just like every other Gunners player, he also posted an image with the caption: “Good start to the season🏆❤️.”
Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vieira, who joined Arsenal from Porto for a reported £34million, also shared happy images on Instagram.
He posed with the trophy in an image he shared on his Instagram page which he captioned: “Start the season right! ❤️”
Arsenal Sporting Director Edu Gasper was in Viera’s comments as he replied with emojis, he wrote: “👏🔝⚽️♥️”
The Belgium international shared three images – him celebrating the goal, the team celebrating together, and the third – holding the trophy.
He captioned the image he shared with a short and simple text saying: “Trophy time! 🏆❤️.”
I know you are waiting to see Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka’s post, well, this piece will be incomplete without the reaction of the player.
Saka was lively in the match against Manchester City as he constantly caused a threat to the Citizyns on the right side.
The Englishman took to his Instagram account to post the triumph, he didn’t say much, as the pictures he shared had him holding the trophy and the second, he was seen celebrating with Declan Rice.
He captioned the images he shared with a simple caption, saying: “Community Shield Champions 🏆.”