MATCH REPORT AND PLAYER RATINGS - ARSENAL 1-1 MANCHESTER CITY (4-1 ON PENALTIES)

Arsenal won the first silverware on offer in the 2023/24 season, after beating Manchester City in a penalty shootout to lift the Community Shield.

Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri missed for City in the shootout, with backup goalkeeper Stefan Ortega-Moreno failing to save penalties from Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka and Fabio Vieira. The other penalty in the shootout was taken by Bernardo Silva, who converted his spot kick excellently.

Pep Guardiola's side had taken the lead through substitute Cole Palmer, who bent a stunning left footed effort into the top left corner from the corner of the box, after excellent work from fellow substitutes De Bruyne and Phil Foden in the build up.

As soon as that previous trio mentioned came onto the pitch, replacing Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland and debutant Mateo Kovacic, City instantly looked sharper, more dangerous and more creative.

Foden could've doubled City's lead shortly before the end of the game, but his shot was too close to the goalkeeper. City had other chances too, with Rodri and John Stones testing goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale with headed efforts.

Arsenal scored a 90 + 11th minute equaliser, as Leandro Trossard's left footed shot from the edge of the box took a wicked deflection of Manuel Akanji to completely wrongfoot Ortega-Moreno.

This sparked pandemonium in the Arsenal dugout, and in the stands too, with the Arsenal supporters, admittedly, far outperforming the City fans in creating an atmosphere.

However, this was only to be expected, for two reasons. Firstly, a large group of Manchester City supporters chose to boycott the game, due to the kickoff time of 4:00 PM being infeasible for travel arrangements from Manchester.

This meant it gave the opportunity for families who don't go to matches often to go and watch City play at Wembley, with silverware on the line. Whilst they are still dedicated and passionate Blues, they do not create an atmosphere to the same extent that the regular Wembley going supporters do.

Also, the fact that the game was played at Wembley Stadium, in London, was naturally always going to benefit the Arsenal supporters, who had a much shorter trip than most City fans.

The only other element of the game yet to be mentioned is the first half, which had very few talking points.

City struggled to create without De Bruyne and Foden on the pitch, whilst Arsenal also had limited chances, with two efforts from Kai Havertz being their only opportunities, both of which were saved relatively comfortably by Ortega-Moreno.

The outcome of the Community Shield has very little relevance, as Liverpool will tell you. Guardiola pre-warned us that City weren't in their best condition, and Arsenal have played numerous more friendlies than the Blues.

Jurgen Klopp's side ran out the comfortable winners in last season's Community Shield, but ended up finishing in 5th place, 22 points behind City.

This game was much more tightly contested than last year's affair, and whilst City did have a slightly slow start last year, they got into gear from March onwards, and ended up winning the treble.

Plus, whilst Arsenal started a first choice 11 - with the possible exception of former City players Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko - City were missing Ederson, Nathan Ake and new signing Josko Gvardiol, whilst De Bruyne was also only fit enough for the bench.

Arsenal may well have won this battle, but we're only at the start of the war. If there was even the slightest hint of complacency in the City squad, then the scenes of Arsenal's celebrations will have snapped the winning mentality back into the treble winning squad.

Here are the player ratings for the penalty defeat in Wembley:

Ortega-Moreno - 6.5/10 - Didn't have much to do in between the sticks. The German cropped up when needed to help keep the ball out of the net, and couldn't really do anything to keep out 4 excellent penalties.

Walker - 7/10 - Kept Gabriel Martinelli extremely quiet on the left wing. The 33 year old used his recovery pace to lock down Arsenal's left flank, and offered a lot of support as an overlapping full back, including for Palmer's goal.

Stones - 7/10 - Another solid defensive performance from Stones, continuing from last season. Unlike in the last few months, Stones didn't support the attack as much as he has done previously, but was equally as capable and strong in defence, blocking excellently from Martinelli at one point in the first half.

Dias - 6.5/10 - Looked tidy in possession, and started many attacks for City. Defensively, he looked composed and strong, but he didn't quite stand out in the same way as Stones did.

Akanji - 6.5/10 - Going forward, the Swiss international gave Arsenal plenty to think about, as he offered an overlapping option for Grealish. Defensively, whilst he was mostly solid, he was beaten a few times by Saka and Ben White. Incredibly unlucky with the deflection that led to the Arsenal goal.

Rodri - 7.5/10 - A typically controlling and commanding performance at the base of midfield from Rodri, something we have become accustomed to seeing. However, after seeing his efforts for both club and country, it is fair to say he isn't a penalty taker.

Alvarez - 5.5/10 - I felt that Alvarez was fairly underwhelming in this fixture, and I'm surprised he wasn't substituted. He offered very little from a creative perspective, and he was dealt with fairly comfortably by Thomas Partey. However, he did much better playing as the lone centre forward after Haaland's substitution, and should have got an assist for Foden.

Kovacic - 7.5/10 - An impressive debut from the Croatian. Kovacic glided around the pitch effortlessly, lending the ball to his teammates and keeping the ball under immense pressure numerous times. His only real weakness, however, is forward passing, as he gave the ball away a few times when trying to play more direct for Haaland.

Bernardo - 7/10 - Gave new Arsenal player Jurrien Timber a headache on his debut. The Portuguese international looked a threat down the right, and looked solid in a deeper role alongside Rodri after Palmer replaced Kovacic.

Haaland - 6/10 - Haaland was a victim of City's lack of creativity. Whilst he is the best striker in the world, he can't create chances for himself, which makes it all the more bizarre that City chose to take him off at the same time they brought on De Bruyne.

Grealish - 6/10 - Showed off his excellent ball retention once again, but the team definitely improved when he was substituted. Failed really to create any chances, either for himself or a teammate.

Substitutes:

Foden - 7.5/10 - An excellent substitute cameo from Foden. He span Partey in the build up to the goal brilliantly, and just looked a threat in general. However, he should be taking finishing lessons from Haaland, as his miss in this game, and in the Champions League final, were signs of a less than good finisher.

Palmer - 7/10 - Fairly quiet out on the right hand side, but he undeniably had an impact on the game with his presence on the pitch alone. His goal was one of the absolute highest quality, but I still think the best option for him this season would be a loan move, perhaps to Brighton, where he'd start regularly and be given the chance to develop.

De Bruyne - 7/10 - Added a creative spark. Considering he didn't play a single minute in pre-season, it didn't take long for De Bruyne to look sharp and inventive when in possession. He got the assist for Palmer's goal, with a well weighted header.