· 2 min readIn this Arsenal vs Man City match, I analyse the key tactical moments, individual performances and turning points of the game.
English football officially returned and immediately brought a final between the two best teams from last season. Arsenal arrived as Premier League champions and Manchester City as FA Cup winners, but the biggest story was on the bench. After a decade with Guardiola, the Maresca era was beginning and, because of that, the need to win seemed greater on City’s side. The Community Shield may not carry the weight of a major trophy, but winning a trophy in the first official game can help build confidence for what’s to come.
And Arsenal came onto the pitch as if they were in a hurry.
After just one minute, more precisely 30 seconds, Calafiori appeared where nobody expected him. Lewis-Skelly found the full-back making a run between the centre-backs and the Italian didn’t waste the opportunity. Arsenal needed half a minute to take the lead and force Maresca to look for answers much earlier than expected.
The most interesting thing was Calafiori’s positioning. Officially he was a left-back, but in practice he often appeared as an attacking midfielder. By the 19th minute, that was already too obvious to ignore. City weren’t able to control those movements inside and it was constantly creating problems.
Manchester City’s response came in the 20th minute. Foden shot from outside the box and forced Raya into a good save. From the resulting play, Haaland also tried, but missed the target.
In the 28th minute, Arsenal were lethal again. Odegaard had time to look up and cross. Tzolis appeared behind O’Reilly, flicked the ball on with his head and found Havertz, who also finished with a header. Donnarumma got a touch on the ball but couldn’t prevent the second goal. The most impressive thing was the efficiency. Arsenal had just two shots on target and were already 2-0 up.
In the 34th minute, a curious stat emerged. Haaland had touched the ball just four times. And that explained almost everything. The problem wasn’t the striker. The problem was City’s inability to create situations for him.
In the 39th minute, Haaland came close to scoring again. Doku controlled the ball inside the box, found the Norwegian and Raya responded once again. In the same move, Ben White made a crucial interception to prevent Doku from scoring. City did create some danger towards the end of the first half, but the feeling was still one of huge defensive vulnerability.
The final blow came in the 48th minute. Tzolis created danger down the left again, found Odegaard inside the box and the Arsenal captain showed all his class. With one touch, he pushed the ball forward, went one-on-one, waited for Donnarumma to go down and then calmly slotted it home for 3-0.
Haaland’s substitution in the 53rd minute ended up symbolising Manchester City’s night. The striker had a very quiet game and left without being able to make a difference.
The strangest thing was that City continued to control possession. By the 60th minute, they had 66%, but that wasn’t translating into chances. They lacked ideas, creativity and the ability to break down Arsenal’s defensive organisation.
The game entered a predictable phase. City settled in the attacking half, passed the ball around and looked for spaces, but couldn’t create any real danger. Raya still made a good save in the 81st minute, but the situation never changed.
Arsenal were extremely efficient, knew how to exploit the opponent’s defensive mistakes and won a final without ever giving the impression they were truly in danger.
Post-match
The biggest winner of the night may have been Calafiori. He scored, constantly appeared in attacking areas and showed some very interesting versatility. On City’s side, there are plenty of warning signs. It’s only the first official game and nobody will draw major conclusions from it, but the team looked very far from what was usual during the Guardiola era.
