Enzo Maresca’s reign began with a chastening afternoon in Cardiff, as Arsenal brushed City aside 3-0 at the Principality Stadium to lift the Community Shield and lay down an early marker for the season ahead.
Riccardo Calafiori needed just 23 seconds to open the scoring, latching onto a Myles Lewis-Skelly pass and rolling the ball beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma. It was the fastest possible start City could have feared for a manager taking his first competitive match in charge, and the afternoon rarely improved from there.
Kai Havertz doubled Arsenal’s lead before the half-hour, and by the time Martin Ødegaard added a third three minutes into the second half — finishing off a slick move started by Christos Tzolis, who claimed a second assist of the match — the contest was effectively over. City barely threatened a way back into it.
Maresca had handed a debut to club-record signing Elliot Anderson, deployed alongside Mateo Kovačić in the middle of the park with Rodri still absent as he continues his recovery from back surgery.
It was a tough afternoon for the pairing to be introduced to senior City football, with Arsenal’s midfield trio of Bruno Guimarães, Ødegaard and Lewis-Skelly dictating much of the game’s rhythm.
Erling Haaland, back after an eye-catching World Cup with Norway, found little service and was flagged offside chasing a through ball shortly after the interval, as City pushed for a way back into the game.
Josko Gvardiol headed a Foden corner wide midway through the second half, one of the few clear openings City created all afternoon.
Early days for Maresca
Changes from the City bench, including the introduction of Jack Grealish, gave the closing stages a different look, but Arsenal’s back line — marshalled by Gabriel and Cristhian Mosquera in the continued absence of William Saliba — was rarely troubled again after the restart. David Raya was afforded a relatively quiet second half in the Arsenal goal.
It’s only the Community Shield, and Maresca will be well aware that the game carries little bearing on the campaign to come.
But for a first outing in senior management at City, following on from a decade of success under Pep Guardiola, this was as difficult a start as he could have had — beaten by the champions, with a scoreline that flattered his side little.
Arsenal have now won all three of their previous Community Shield meetings with City, and made it four from four in Cardiff.
City will have a quick chance to put it right. The Premier League season proper begins next Sunday, August 23, when Bournemouth visit the Etihad Stadium for Maresca’s first league match in charge.
