Arsenal Kick-Start Their Season With A Win Over Chelsea In The FA Community Shield.

steemsports (80)in #steemsports • 7 years ago

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Arsenal starts the new season just as they ended last season by defeating 10-man Chelsea in Wembley. Both Thibaut Courtois and new signing Alvaro Morata missed from the spot as the Gunners claimed the Community Shield.

The normal time ended in a 1-1 draw and the game was forced into the penalty shoot-out. We were able to see the new ABBA penalty system in action. Gary Cahill, Theo Walcott, and Nacho Monreal all netted before consecutive misses from Courtois and Morata allowed Oxlade Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud to wrap up the Gunner’s third Community Shield in four seasons, while Chelsea has lost four consecutive appearances in this fixture.

Victor Moses had put Chelsea in front just minutes after the start of the second half after he reacted fastest when Arsenal failed to clear their lines following a corner. Chelsea looked to be cruising to victory before Pedro was sent off 10 minutes from time, and new signing Sead Kolasinac netted immediately with a fine header to send the game to penalties.

Alexander Lacazette was given his debut from the start, he came close to a first half goal at Wembley, sending a strike against the post. Victory for Wenger’s men means that the FA Cup Champions have triumphed the defending Premier League Champions for four consecutive seasons now.

Arsenal was without the services of key players such as Alexis, Ozil, Koscielny, Ramsey but they were the first to threaten a Chelsea side without the service of star player Eden Hazard. The Gunners were forced into a change in the first half which will later have an impact on the outcome of the game. Per Mertesacker was subbed out and in came new signing Sead Kolasinac in his place. The sub gave Chelsea a little momentum and Moses and Pedro forced saves in quick succession from former Chelsea stopper Petr Cech. Chelsea’s Willian was then booked for simulation in the penalty area before the lively Alex Iwobi showed great footwork before testing Courtois.

Chelsea’s goal finally came few seconds into the second half when a corner was poorly cleared by Granit Xhaka, which allowed Cahill to head back into the area and Moses was able to control and beat Cech from close range.

Wenger brought in Walcott and Giroud in place of Iwobi and Lacazette in search of an equalizer, and it almost came when Xhaka struck a wonderful 30-yard strike with Courtois saved with his fingertips.

The equalizer finally came when Pedro was shown a straight red for a rash challenge on Elneny, the resulting free kick from Xhaka saw Kolasinac rise highest to head the ball into the bottom corner and send the game to penalties.