Less than a week before the new season truly begins, last season's Champions face off against the FA Cup winners of last season. This time out in the FA Community Shield, Chelsea faced off against Arsenal, who listed this Shield a year ago. Chelsea were without Diego Costa in this game due to injury and Petr Cech faced off against his old team after leaving them earlier in the summer, but would he get the better of his old team so early into the season? If the stats were anything to go by, it looked unlikely as Arsene Wenger had never been able to beat Jose Mourinho before.
Arsenal came out of the blocks extremely quickly in the game. Within the first minute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had crossed the ball into a dangerous position from the right, but Thibaut Courtois came out of his goal to get to the ball before Theo Walcott could cause any problems. Both teams were pushing forward when they got the chance with the ball meaning that there was a quick pace to the game in the opening minutes. Chelsea put together their first good opportunity on the 11th minute when Willian forced his way through the Arsenal midfield and passed the ball to Cesar Azpilicueta down the left wing. He put in a good cross, trying to find Loic Remy, but Hector Bellerin got across well to put the ball out for a corner.
It was Arsenal who looked the more dangerous of the two teams in the first half though. The Chelsea defence did well to deal with the quick pace of the Arsenal front players and the short passes that they tried to play in between the defenders. Arsenal had a good chance from a free kick which was whipped into the box. Walcott got his head to the ball and flicked it on towards goal, but Courtois was in place to easily catch the ball and prevent the goal. Only a minute later though, Courtois had no chance of preventing what happened. Walcott got the ball in the middle of the field and passed the ball onto Oxlade-Chamberlain down the right. He was left one-on-one with Azpilicueta and got around him to create enough room to curl his shot around the defender and into the top corner with his left foot.
Chelsea seemed to come to their senses following the goal and began to press forward with more intent. Just after the half hour mark, they almost got the better of Arsenal as the ball was slipped into Willian, who didn't have any players around him, on the left wing and his cross was put into a crowd of players in the middle of the box, but Arsenal cleared it. Ramires also had two good chances not long after this. For his first, he got past the 4 Arsenal defenders around him and tried to curl his shot around them, but it ended up wide of the far post. The second came from a Cesc Fabregas cross which Ramires got his head to, but again, he couldn't direct his shot on target.
It was Arsenal who finished the half with good chances. Aaron Ramsey hit the side netting from close range, but it was close enough to the goal that it forced Courtois to dive low if he needed to prevent a goal. Oxlade-Chamberlain set up another chance as well after getting around two Chelsea defenders. It looked for a second as though he might have taken the ball too far, but he cut it back as Courtois came out to him. Good defending by Branislav Ivanovic meant that the danger was cleared after he put his head on the line.
Chelsea started the second half brightly and looked like they may be able to get a goal back. However, even though they created some half chances, none of them looked like they were causing too much trouble for the Arsenal defence until the hour mark. First, a long ball over the top of the Arsenal defence caught them out, but Radamel Falcao couldn't get his boot to the ball. This was shortly followed by Fabregas putting a great ball into Eden Hazard on the edge of the box. He had a free run into the box, but he just couldn't make the most of the chance as the ball went wide of the target.
The introduction of Olivier Giroud was good for Arsenal, as the momentum swung back their way when he came onto the field. Another good cross from Oxlade-Chamberlain aimed towards the near post where Giroud had pulled away from Ivanovic, and he stretched his left leg out, but could only direct the shot over the crossbar. Not long after, Santi Cazorla wriggled himself away from his defender on the right of the six yard box and cut the ball back to Giroud, who again couldn't keep the ball down.
Chelsea weren't finished yet though. From a free kick, Fabregas put the ball into a good area of the box where Kurt Zouma got up above his defender to direct his header. It was aimed towards the centre of the goal and Cech made a straightforward catch to prevent the goal. Another free kick minutes later was whipped in behind the defence was met by Ivanovic, who didn't get picked up for being offside, but he couldn't direct his header onto the target.
In the last minute of added time, Kieran Gibbs had the chance to double Arsenal's lead and double Chelsea's misery. The ball was slipped through the defence and the defenders didn't stick to Gibbs as he tried to poke the goal towards goal. Courtois did really well to get down and smother the shot.
The result of this match means that Arsenal won the Community Shield for the second time in a row, and Wenger has finally gotten the better of Mourinho on the football field. Arsenal are certainly looking a strong and confident side on the pitch, and will be feeling confident going into the new season, especially with a win like this under their belt. Chelsea will also be feeling confident though as they await the return of Costa in the near future and they are, of course, the defending Champions and favourites to retain their trophy. It's going to be a very interesting season...
It was Arsenal who finished the half with good chances. Aaron Ramsey hit the side netting from close range, but it was close enough to the goal that it forced Courtois to dive low if he needed to prevent a goal. Oxlade-Chamberlain set up another chance as well after getting around two Chelsea defenders. It looked for a second as though he might have taken the ball too far, but he cut it back as Courtois came out to him. Good defending by Branislav Ivanovic meant that the danger was cleared after he put his head on the line.
Chelsea started the second half brightly and looked like they may be able to get a goal back. However, even though they created some half chances, none of them looked like they were causing too much trouble for the Arsenal defence until the hour mark. First, a long ball over the top of the Arsenal defence caught them out, but Radamel Falcao couldn't get his boot to the ball. This was shortly followed by Fabregas putting a great ball into Eden Hazard on the edge of the box. He had a free run into the box, but he just couldn't make the most of the chance as the ball went wide of the target.
The introduction of Olivier Giroud was good for Arsenal, as the momentum swung back their way when he came onto the field. Another good cross from Oxlade-Chamberlain aimed towards the near post where Giroud had pulled away from Ivanovic, and he stretched his left leg out, but could only direct the shot over the crossbar. Not long after, Santi Cazorla wriggled himself away from his defender on the right of the six yard box and cut the ball back to Giroud, who again couldn't keep the ball down.
Chelsea weren't finished yet though. From a free kick, Fabregas put the ball into a good area of the box where Kurt Zouma got up above his defender to direct his header. It was aimed towards the centre of the goal and Cech made a straightforward catch to prevent the goal. Another free kick minutes later was whipped in behind the defence was met by Ivanovic, who didn't get picked up for being offside, but he couldn't direct his header onto the target.
In the last minute of added time, Kieran Gibbs had the chance to double Arsenal's lead and double Chelsea's misery. The ball was slipped through the defence and the defenders didn't stick to Gibbs as he tried to poke the goal towards goal. Courtois did really well to get down and smother the shot.
The result of this match means that Arsenal won the Community Shield for the second time in a row, and Wenger has finally gotten the better of Mourinho on the football field. Arsenal are certainly looking a strong and confident side on the pitch, and will be feeling confident going into the new season, especially with a win like this under their belt. Chelsea will also be feeling confident though as they await the return of Costa in the near future and they are, of course, the defending Champions and favourites to retain their trophy. It's going to be a very interesting season...
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