FA Community Shield: Three-goal Arsenal thrash City in Cardiff curtain-raiser

Arsenal hit the ground running in the traditional season curtain-raiser as they thrashed Manchester City 3-0 to win the FA Community Shield in Cardiff.

The two sides headed into the match with most observers seeing the game as a battle between the two sides expected to battle it out for the Premier League title again this season. But in Sunday afternoon's head-to-head clash at the Principality Stadium, there was only one team in it.

Arsenal stamped their authority on the game in the very first minute, when a great pass from Myles Lewis-Skelly found the late-arriving Riccardo Calafiori, who fired Arsenal into the lead after just 24 seconds.

That strike gave Arsenal increased confidence, while City struggled to find cohesion in a match where they looked a little under-prepared for such a high-intensity Arsenal performance.

The Gunners doubled their lead on 28 minutes when a deep cross from Player of the Match Martin Odegaard found new signing Christos Tzolis at the back post. The Greek winger then smartly headed the ball back across goal, where Kai Havertz was on hand to nod home and double Arsenal's lead.

From that point on, Arsenal had a grip on the game, and never let go as they dominated the rest of the game. City tried in vain to find their way back into the game, but when their chances came, they found Arsenal keeper David Raya in the right place at the right time to deny them. There was also one superb block by Ben White to deny Jeremy Doku.

The second half saw both managers make mass changes over the course of the action, meaning the action became a little more stop-start. But by the time those changes came, Arsenal were away and clear at 3-0.

A brilliant move, and an outstanding piece of play from Odegaard, gave Arsenal their third goal as he latched onto a Tzolis pass and superbly sat down City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma before finishing with ease just two minutes into the second period.

From that moment on, the game started to get fragmented with multiple changes by both managers, and while both sides had chances, neither were able to add to the scoreline as Arsenal ran out comfortable winners.