Riccardo Calafiori’s goal after 23 seconds set the tone as Arsenal outclassed Manchester City in the Community Shield to give Enzo Maresca a worrying start in charge of the Cityzens at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Full-back Calafiori struck from Myles Lewis-Skelly’s perceptive pass before Havertz headed in from new signing Christos Tzolis’ looping header.
Take a bow, Martin Ødegaard 😮💨
Arsenal are flying against Man City!
📺 Watch live on TNT Sports & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/cMHbIyJ90D
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 16, 2026
Odegaard had a shot cleared off the line by Josko Gvardiol during the first half but avenged that near-miss by expertly collecting a Tzolis pass in front of the Croatia defender, performing a dummy to deceive goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and slotting in three minutes after the restart.
“Absolutely different class,” former Scotland forward Ally McCoist told TNT Sports of Arsenal’s third goal.
Riccardo Calafiori gives Arsenal the lead after just 24 seconds 🤯
The assist from Myles Lewis-Skelly 👏
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 16, 2026
Kai Havertz finishes off a well-worked move to double Arsenal’s lead 🤩
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 16, 2026
Antoine Semenyo tested David Raya late on for City but Maresca’s team offered little in their most meaningful contest since the Italian replaced Pep Guardiola, who ended his 10-year reign at the end of last season.
“I’m surprised by what I’ve seen from City,” said Maresca. “Arsenal have been excellent but City have been concerningly poor.
“There’s absolutely no getting away from the fact that Arsenal have absolutely dominated, apart from five minutes in the first half when City looked a little bit lively.
“The gap between the sides in this encounter has been as big as I’ve seen between these sides in a long, long time.”
Arsenal team vs Man City
Arsenal were without William Saliba, who is facing an extended spell out after aggravating a long-term back injury during France’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Spain.
Jurrien Timber also remained sidelined with a groin problem and is understood to still be some weeks from a return, although head coach Mikel Arteta has described the full-backs progress as going “really well”.
New £75 million signing Bruno Guimaraes started in midfield, with Bukayo Saka on the bench alongside Declan Rice and Viktor Gyokeres.
Arsenal starting XI: David Raya, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, Cristhian Mosquera, Riccardo Calafiori, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Bruno Guimaraes, Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Christos Tzolis, Kai Havertz
Arsenal substitutes: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Piero Hincapie, Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Max Dowman, Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres
Man City team vs Arsenal
Winger Savinho and midfielder Rodri missed out through injury for City, with £117 million record signing Elliot Anderson in midfield and Erling Haaland leading the line.
Jack Grealish was among the substitutes.
Manchester City starting XI: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Abdukodir Khusanov, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nico O’Reilly, Mateo Kovacic, Claudio Echeverri, Phil Foden, Antoine Semenyo, Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku
Manchester City substitutes: Geronimo Rulli, Marc Guehi, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki, Nico Gonzalez, Jack Grealish, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Matheus Nunes, Rico Lewis
Where to watch Arsenal v Manchester City: TV and online streams
Kick-off on Sunday was at 15:00 BST. Live coverage in the UK is on TNT Sports, with streaming on HBO Max.
- Arteta has won all four of his Community Shield matches (two as a player, two as a manager) and is in charge of a club who have lifted the trophy 17 times, behind only Manchester United (21)
- Arsenal have won all four of their Community Shield matches against City, previously beating them 4-0 in 1934, 3-0 in 2014 and 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 2023
- On the past 10 occasions when the game has been between the league champions and the FA Cup winners, the FA Cup holders had won eight times
- Calafiori’s goal was the first scored in the opening minute of the Community Shield since Bobby Owen for City against West Bromwich Albion in 1968, leading to a 6-1 win for his side at the club’s former home of Maine Road
- The Gunners played at the Millennium Stadium more times than any other side (10) when it was first used between 2001 and 2007.
- Maresca was the City manager to take charge of his opening game in the Community Shield, with Maurizio Sarri the last top-flight head coach whose first game came on this stage, overseeing a 2-0 Chelsea defeat to City in August 2018
- City beat United on penalties in their previous Community Shield appearance in 2024, although only their Manchester rivals (10) have been runners-up in the game as many times as City (10)
- Their only previous match at the Millennium Stadium was a 3-0 win over TNS in August 2003 in a UEFA Cup – now the Europa League – qualifying match
- They lost one of their last 12 matches in all competitions (W9 D2) in 2025/26 – a 2-1 league home defeat to Aston Villa in their final game of the campaign with the title out of reach
- Haaland was making his first appearance for City since the 2025/26 season, having missed their pre-season fixtures following his return from helping Norway reach the World Cup quarter-finals
