Arsenal 3-0 Man City: Odegaard leads Gunners to Community Shield glory

Arsenal began the 2026/27 season in style with a 3-0 win over Manchester City to lift the Community Shield at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Sunday.

The Gunners took the lead just 24 seconds into the game through Riccardo Calafiori before Kai Havertz doubled the advantage in the 28th minute.

Martin Odegaard then added a third two minutes after the restart to seal Arsenal’s 18th Community Shield title.

Arsenal made a fast start and were rewarded almost immediately. Ben White found Myles Lewis-Skelly, who created space before sending a pass into the path of Calafiori. The Italian defender calmly finished past new City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City gradually settled into the game, and David Raya was forced into action when Phil Foden tested him from outside the box. The Arsenal goalkeeper made a good save to keep out the effort.

Arsenal doubled their lead when Christos Tzolis provided his first assist for the club. Martin Odegaard delivered a cross towards the back post, where Tzolis headed the ball back across the goal for Havertz to score with a downward header.

City had chances to reduce the deficit before the break, with Raya denying Erling Haaland from close range. Ben White also produced an important block to stop Jeremy Doku from scoring.

Odegaard then put the result beyond doubt two minutes into the second half.

Lewis-Skelly found Tzolis on the left, and the Greek winger picked out Odegaard’s run. The Arsenal captain went past Josko Gvardiol before rounding Donnarumma and rolling the ball into an empty net.

The goal was Odegaard’s first since December after an injury-hit 2025/26 season.

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Arsenal came close to adding a fourth through Bukayo Saka, who hit the side netting and later sent another effort narrowly over the bar.

Raya also made another important save late in the game to deny Antoine Semenyo as Arsenal secured a clean sheet.

The Gunners will now turn their attention to the Premier League, where they begin their title defence against newly promoted Coventry City on Friday.

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Tunde Eludini is a graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria where he studied International Relations. He is a Senior Correspondent coordinating the sports section for PREMIUM TIMES. Twitter: @tundeyeludini