{"id":3007,"date":"2026-08-17T08:50:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=3007"},"modified":"2026-08-17T08:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:50:23","slug":"arsenal-thrash-man-city-to-lift-community-shield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/17\/arsenal-thrash-man-city-to-lift-community-shield\/sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal thrash Man City to lift Community Shield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"666\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kyofjznc481k_mxqxluuudfzl_1440x960.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3008\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kyofjznc481k_mxqxluuudfzl_1440x960.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kyofjznc481k_mxqxluuudfzl_1440x960-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kyofjznc481k_mxqxluuudfzl_1440x960-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arsenal made an emphatic start to the 2026-27 campaign, beating Manchester City 3-0 on Sunday to win the Community Shield and hand new City manager Enzo Maresca a defeat in his first competitive match in charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and captain Martin \u00d8degaard scored as Arsenal dominated at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, with the victory giving manager Mikel Arteta an early trophy ahead of the new Premier League season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"666\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6kbcpz8fd1hu_gc6qoystdtot_1440x960.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3009\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6kbcpz8fd1hu_gc6qoystdtot_1440x960.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6kbcpz8fd1hu_gc6qoystdtot_1440x960-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6kbcpz8fd1hu_gc6qoystdtot_1440x960-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arsenal needed only 23 seconds to take the lead. Myles Lewis-Skelly found Calafiori with a well-weighted pass, and the Italian defender calmly finished past Gianluigi Donnarumma. It was the fastest opening goal in the fixture in 58 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">City struggled to respond, with goalkeeper David Raya denying Phil Foden from distance before later keeping out a shot from Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arsenal doubled its advantage in the 28th minute. \u00d8degaard delivered a cross toward the far post, where new signing Christos Tzolis headed the ball back across goal for Havertz, who finished to make it 2-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00d8degaard completed the scoring three minutes after halftime. Tzolis provided another assist, allowing the Arsenal captain to beat Josko Gvardiol before calmly finishing past Donnarumma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The victory marked Arsenal\u2019s 18th Community Shield triumph and their fourth win over Manchester City in the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"666\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/iq5eybs0glnl_jndah3b0y7ez_1440x960.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3010\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/iq5eybs0glnl_jndah3b0y7ez_1440x960.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/iq5eybs0glnl_jndah3b0y7ez_1440x960-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/iq5eybs0glnl_jndah3b0y7ez_1440x960-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result also marked the beginning of a new era at City following Pep Guardiola\u2019s departure after a decade in charge. Maresca, who replaced Guardiola, now faces a difficult start as he prepares his squad for the Premier League campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arsenal will begin their league title defense against Coventry City on Friday, while \u00d8degaard said the team is determined to challenge for more trophies this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"644\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/py2ewigrbey9_gcsdakcnkaaj_1440x928.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3011\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/py2ewigrbey9_gcsdakcnkaaj_1440x928.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/py2ewigrbey9_gcsdakcnkaaj_1440x928-300x193.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/py2ewigrbey9_gcsdakcnkaaj_1440x928-768x495.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe showed our level today, we showed that we&#8217;re ready,\u201d \u00d8degaard said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal made an emphatic start to the 2026-27 campaign, beating Manchester City 3-0 on Sunday to win the Community Shield and hand new City manager [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,36,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-international","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3012,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007\/revisions\/3012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}