‘They celebrate as if they’ve won the league’: Kevin de Bruyneblast Arsenal fans for booing Him on the field today, reveals what He will do to Arsenal when they meet in the Premier league
Arsenal 1-1 Man City (Trossard 90’+11 | Palmer 77′) – Arsenal win 4-1 on penalties
A clinic in clinical penalty taking won Arsenal the Community Shield as the ever reliable Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri missed their shootout spot-kicks.
Manchester City looked to have won the first trophy of the 2023-24 season as England’s U21 Euro-winning star Cole Palmer came off the bench to bend an elegant, curling effort past Aaron Ramsdale.
Yet another substitute, Leandro Trossard, took advantage of eight allotted minutes of added time becoming 13 to blasting a shot into Manuel Akanji and past Stefan Ortega.
But in a match largely bereft of big chances or big moments, focus turned to Arsenal’s £200m summer acquisitions, purchases made specifically in aid of beating the side they finally managed to on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Declan Rice, perhaps on a hiding to nothing as a £100m defensive midfielder by the natural restrictions of the role, predominantly failed to grab attention in a position which isn’t designed to do so. His rangy, gangly form burst into frame for fleeting moments, but could never quite forge a foothold on the Wembley turf.
And for all the pre-season talk of Kai Havertz’s rebirth as a central midfielder, here he was once more, a makeshift striker playing like a makeshift striker, spurning perhaps the two best chances of a drab, cagey first half. The German fired astute cut-backs from Ben White and Bukayo Saka straight at Stefan Ortega with his trademark languid panache. It may well have made Chelsea fans nostalgic, but certainly didn’t suggest their club were the losers in the £65m deal.
The final of Arteta’s triumvirate of summer signings, Jurrien Timber, was also utilised in an unfamiliar role, as Oleksandr Zinchenko’s replacement at left-back, but demonstrated a natural adeptness. The Dutchman’s simple yet effective game worked well alongside Gabriel Martinelli, cutting inside to use his right foot while the Brazilian bombed down the touchline.
The Gunners’ most heavily rumoured fourth summer recruit David Raya may have watched this game with raised eyebrow and wry smile. Ramsdale, for all the credit he’s rightly earned after his excellent Players Tribune article, looked somewhere between purposely reckless and utterly lost at points.
