Arsenal convincingly claimed the 2026 FA Community Shield with a dominant 3-0 victory against Manchester City at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and player of the match Martin Ødegaard scored for the Premier League champions, who have won the FA Community Shield for the second time in three years.
Calafiori stunned City after just 24 seconds as he met Myles Lewis-Skelly’s ball on the edge of the penalty area and slotted into the bottom left corner to give Arsenal an immediate advantage.
The reigning Premier League champions continued their strong start when Christos Tzolis’ cross towards the six-yard box had to be collected by Gianluigi Donnarumma, after being deflected towards the Italian.
City found their feet after a quarter of an hour in Enzo Maresca's first competitive match in charge, when new signing Elliot Anderson delivered an inviting cross towards an unmarked Erling Haaland on the edge of the penalty area, the Norwegian just a step behind the ball.
Phil Foden’s low shot from 25 yards away then forced David Raya to his left into a save.
But Havertz doubled Arsenal’s lead inside half an hour, as Abdukodir Khusuanov failed to attack Ødegaard’s cross towards the back post, allowing Tzolis to head the ball across the face of goal for the German forward to finish.
Jérémy Doku, looking to kickstart City’s performance, ran into open space and his ball reached Haaland one-on-one with Raya on the edge of the box, but the striker’s unbalanced shot never threatened the Spaniard.
With just over five minutes left in the first half, Doku collected Anderson’s wing-to-wing lofted pass and found Haaland in the penalty area, who rifled a shot at Raya which nearly rebounded to Nico O’Reilly before Lewis-Skelly intervened.
City pounced on broken play and had a second attempt at goal through the charging Doku, who was unable to make a clean connection.
Kai Havertz finishes off a well-worked move to double Arsenal's lead 🤩
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 16, 2026
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Arsenal nearly extended their lead inside stoppage time when Donnarumma parried an effort from Ødegaard ten yards away, with Josko Gvardiol ensuring the scoreline remained 2-0 at the break with a block on the line.
But Gunners captain Ødegaard put Arsenal in complete control three minutes into the second half, as he got past Gvardiol and Donnarumma to roll into an empty net and make it 3-0.
Bukayo Saka had a great chance to start his season with a goal, sitting unmarked in the middle of the box, but his powerful effort flew too high over Donnarumma’s net.
Antoine Semenyo had City’s best chance in front of goal into the final ten minutes, with Raya getting a forceful right hand to the Ghanaian’s venomous shot from 12 yards out.
But Arsenal controlled the second half to secure a first trophy of the season, easing into the strongest possible start for the north London side.
