Arsenal – Manchester City: Arsenal Ease Past City In Curtain-Raiser (3-0)

Early goals in both halves set the stage for a game in which Arsenal’s disciplined defensive scheme saw little danger from Enzo Maresca’s 3-1-3-3 attacking idea. Manchester City’s own defensive line was less solid, with Arsenal’s left-sided off-the-ball runs making the difference for two of the goals.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

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This year’s Community Shield saw a clash between an Arsenal side seeking continuity, having lifted the Premier League title last season, and Manchester City entering a new era. After a decade of Pep Guardiola dominance, Enzo Maresca now took to the City dugout. On the pitch, City have also lost experience, with Rodri and Bernardo Silva departing.

Mikel Arteta’s side lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape here, with a back four of Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel Magalhães, and Riccardo Calafiori. Summer signing Bruno Guimarães started in midfield alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly, while Noni Madueke and Christos Tzolis started wide. Martin Ødegaard then supported Kai Havertz up front.

For City, it was also nominally a 4-2-3-1 formation, as Abdukodir Khusanov, Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol, and Nico O’Reilly made up the back four. Elliot Anderson partnered Mateo Kovačić in midfield having arrived from Nottingham Forest for a considerable sum. In attack, Antoine Semenyo, Phil Foden, and Jérémy Doku played in behind Erling Haaland.

Arsenal’s perfect start

The game saw its first goal within thirty seconds, as Lewis-Skelly’s reverse pass found Calafiori in one of his characteristic indenting fullback positions, darting into the box off the shoulder of Khusanov before finishing low past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The pass leading to Arsenal’s first goal, where City’s attempt to hold their line on the edge of the penalty box is punished. 

The left side of Arsenal’s attack was an issue for City more widely due to the off-the-ball running of the likes of Calafiori and Tzolis, plus Havertz when he drifted across. There were a few occasions where Khusanov was unable to control his zone or track runners properly.

This eventually led to Arsenal’s second goal too, where Tzolis was able to run on his blindside for a far post cross which he nodded back across to Havertz who scored from close range.

Elsewhere in Arsenal’s possession game, Lewis-Skelly was usually the deepest midfielder, dropping close to the center-backs, while White as right back usually played a more reserved role than his left-sided counterpart Calafiori.

White would help form a back three at times or take up positions in the second line. Madueke held the width on the right, while Ødegaard started from advanced positions the right halfspace but liked to drop deep to support the buildup.

These dropping movements from Ødegaard could be met by forward movements from Guimarães who had the freedom to move from his initial position alongside Lewis-Skelly, making runs from deep to penetrate the City midfield.

Arsenal were able to play out of such situations through third-man combinations for midfielders to bounce the ball wide. 

When pressing higher, City’s wingers would try to come into narrow positions to press Arsenal’s center-backs diagonally, but Arsenal were generally able to play out of such situations thanks to well-timed dropping movements from their midfielders to facilitate third-man combinations to find the free player on the outside.

Disciplined defending

With City having gone behind early on, they had the impetus to try to take control of the ball and push Arsenal back. This was not easy though, as Arsenal’s defensive scheme was effective, showing the discipline that Arteta’s side have become known for.

City’s basic attacking shape was a 3-1-3-3 arrangement. O’Reilly would move forward into the left halfspace as well as roaming further into midfield, leaving Khusanov and the center-backs to form a back three.

Anderson would take up the right halfspace role, leaving Kovačić as the number six and Foden as the number ten. Semenyo and Doku meanwhile held the width, although Doku did sometimes indent with O’Reilly able to stay wider.

City’s possession structure was relatively rigid at times.

Against a compact 4-4-2 mid-block from Arsenal, it was difficult for City to create breakthroughs in the midfield area. Their best chance was through the positioning of Foden in the number ten space.

There were a couple of occasions where Guimarães and Lewis-Skelly had their attention taken by Anderson and O’Reilly’s halfspace positioning, which allowed Foden to position himself in the gap between the Arsenal central midfielders.

Arsenal were also keen to jump from their mid-low block and lock on man-to-man when they received the right pressing trigger. This often came in the form of passes into Khusanov, at which point Tzolis would jump forward to pressure him, with Ødegaard locking onto Kovačić while Havertz and Madueke also jumped to City’s first line.

Arsenal were keen to jump man-to-man where possible.

There was a pattern whereby after Madueke’s jump towards Gvardiol, O’Reilly would find himself somewhat free in the space outside of Guimarães. White would sometimes try to tighten this space by advancing with Mosquera sliding over to cover Doku, but there were also occasions where this manoeuvre could not be completed.

Despite this, City were not really able to take advantage of this situation. Madueke used his cover shadow well to prevent the direct pass into O’Reilly, while there was a lack of focused movements from City midfielders to facilitate the third-man combination in such situations – the exact movements that Arsenal had excelled at providing in an aforementioned similar situation.

No way back for City

The second half started just as badly as the first for City, as Arsenal extended their lead to three within the first few minutes. Like the first goal, Arsenal were able to commit numbers to the last line in a transition situation. This time, it led to Ødegaard being able to ghost in at the edge of the box to apply the finish.

There had been a couple of substitutes at half time, with Declan Rice replacing Guimarães for Arsenal, and Jack Grealish replacing Doku for City. After Arsenal made it 3-0, plenty more changes would follow for both sides as the coaches tried to manage the minutes of players at various stages of match fitness.

The trend of the second half was that Arsenal were generally playing in their own half, both with and without the ball, but City were nevertheless unable to pose too much danger. This was even more the case as Haaland was removed as part of the aforementioned raft of substitutions.

A common possession shape for Arsenal in the second half. 

 When Arsenal had the ball, Rice would often drop into a back three, while Ødegaard dropped into a double pivot alongside Lewis-Skelly. On the left, Calafiori or later Piero Hincapié started to take up wider positions, while Tzolis more often indented into the left halfspace.

Arsenal were able to withstand City’s attempts at high pressing relatively well in this structure. Ødegaard and Lewis-Skelly provided a stable and press-resistant midfield nucleus, creating strong dynamics in the number six zone which City were never quite able to adjust their 4-2-3-1 pressing scheme to deal with.

Takeaways

Arsenal came out of the blocks strongly in this game and signalled their intent to mount a strong title defense this season. In possession, their dynamics against City’s defensive line were strong, especially on the left side. Without possession, they were compact and able to jump into a man-to-man press with good timing.

City meanwhile are likely to require some time to adjust to a new manager. In this game, their possession structure afforded some interesting opportunities against the Arsenal defensive block but their intentions and movements were not quite coordinated enough to maximise them. Without the ball they looked a little suspect and were unable to adjust their press well enough in the second half.  

Match plots to be added shortly.