Rampant Arsenal batter City

Champions Arsenal simply blew Manchester City away in the 2026 Community Shield, held at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. Rarely can City have been so  destroyed in recent years.

This was a special day for this annual curtain-raiser to the season, the game taking place in Cardiff for the first time in 20 years due to a clash of events at Wembley Stadium.

Between 2001 and 2006, Cardiff had hosted a range of major matches due to the building works at Wembley and the stadium still made an excellent venue on this hot day in Wales.

The starting line-ups read like a Who’s Who of the modern game. Erling Haaland wore 9 for City. Bruno Guimarães started for Arsenal. Declan Rice was on the Arsenal bench alongside teen star Max Dowman. Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka. It was quite an array of talent.

In a wild start, Riccardo Calafiori smashed in a goal with barely seconds gone. Gianluigi Donnarumma barely saw it as the shot flew passed him. One-nil, to the Arsenal, came the inevitable chant. I don’t think City had touched the ball yet.

The Gunners were dominant in the early stages. Skipper Martin Ødegaard was everywhere. Ben White was in no mood to accommodate the tricks and flicks of Doku. The massive Arsenal support were gleeful, as 20 minutes seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye.

Eventually, we saw some City pressure as Elliot Anderson and Foden combined to force David Raya into action.

At the other end of the pitch, Noni Madueke was a constant threat, twisting and turning to pose all sorts of problems.

Kai Havertz doubled the Gunners’ lead with a header from just a few feet out on 28 minutes. It was no more than they deserved, causing their fans to burst into the “Poznań” celebration so often enjoyed by their opponents. Moments later they mocked Haaland as he blazed a shot high over the woodwork. The giant Norwegian came closer just afterwards but this had been 45 minutes of pulsating play from the 2026 Premier League champions.

Christhian Mosquera had shone amongst a team of top performances. Ødegaard almost scrambled in a third as the first half ended but then did exactly that as the second half commenced, dancing to secure his balance and slot passed a helpless Donnarumma.

It had been breathtaking stuff.

Rice and Grealish had joined the play, but it was hard to see a way back for City. “Can we play you every week?” sang the Cockney Choir. We had cries of Ole and more taunting of Haaland, who was taken off eventually as, inevitably, the game became less of a contest.

The Londoners taunted new City boss Enzo Mareska with  cries of “You’re getting sacked in the morning.” Gaps began to appear in the Manchester end from within the 58,056 crowd.

Throughout the game, Arsenal had defended sternly and attacked with a flair that suggested that, even at this early stage, it would be hard to bet against them appearing in this fixture in 2027.

Arsenal 3

Manchester City 0

David Collins

Welsh Football Correspondent

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