Ramsdale: 'It's a marker to know we can go and beat Man City in a big game when it matters'
ARSENAL 1-1 MAN CITY (Arsenal win 4-1 on penalties)
Pep Guardiola is used to losing this match. Liverpool defeated his City side last season and Leicester the one before. They proceeded to win the title both seasons, so why worry this time?
Not unduly bothered when Arsenal's Fabio Vieira struck home the winning penalty shoot-out goal after his side had conceded an unprecedented 101st minute Community Shield equaliser to Leandro Trossard.
Guardiola's treble winners gave their all (Pep celebrated long and hard when they went ahead) and matched Arsenal for ingenuity and effort, but it was clear this one meant more to Mikel Arteta, his Arsenal players and their supporters.
The Catalan coach has never lost a Premier League match to Arsenal in his seven years in England. They left the young pretenders in their wake at the end of last season as they overhauled the young Londoners to defend their league trophy last season and are rightly favourites to repeat the trick.
This generation of Arteta's side, therefore, needed to experience some sort of victory to restore belief. They had not beaten City in any format since they last met here at Wembley in a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang inspired FA Cup win three years ago.
No wonder they celebrated and marked this narrow triumph as one of great importance.
Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale prevented Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri from scoring penalties before Vieira's decisive spot kick sent the red end of a packed Wembley stadium into scenes of delirious celebration.
Ramsdale, who is gearing up for a fight to keep his place when Arsenal complete the signing of Brentford keeper David Raya this week, explained afterwards: “For us, it's a statement. It's a marker to know we can go and beat Man City in a big game when it matters.
"I'm not sure what it'll be like this season. But that mental block is gone. We're ready to push on now."
Arteta listened to Ramsdale's words and responded: “I don’t have to agree or disagree, if Aaron feels it this way, great. It’s about what the players feel when they are there and they are convinced they can beat any team. We knew the challenge, especially because of their maturity and how often they play finals but today we showed a real resilience and determination to fight and win the game.”
Asked if Ramsdale was feeling added pressure from Raya's anticipated arrival, Arteta added: “I hope not because the competition always exists whoever it is. That’s how it has to feel like. It has to feel like this and if it doesn’t feel like this we’re not gonna get the best out of each player. So we’d better feel like this and make sure we all feel like this. Me first.”
Guardiola, as ever with Arsenal and his old City colleague Arteta, was magnanimous in defeat. He commented: “My first words are 'congrats Arsenal. We were close. The last 15, 20 of the first half they were better. Second half we were much better. At the end we could not do it.”
And the end was a late one as show pony referee Stuart Attwell, who seemed to delight in showing off all of the new rules on time-wasting and dissent with five yellow cards – including one for Arteta on the touchline– added eight minutes at the end . That turned into 13 minutes by the time he blew his final whistle and Trossard's deflected equaliser came in the 101st minute!
That was when City were playing out what would have been a flattering victory courtesy of a brilliant 77th minute strike from Erling Haaland's substitute Cole Palmer.
Guardiola added: “We just have to get used to it. I had the feeling that not much happened to extend eight mins. We have to accept it. Now games will be 100 mins that’s for sure.”
A lack of incident overall possibly made for dull viewing at home, but it was an absorbing encounter to witness first hand as the two best teams in the Premier League measured each other up for the season ahead.
Arsenal record signing Declan Rice more than held his own in midfield and has clearly been taken to by the fans already. His partnership with Thomas Partey promises to be the heartbeat of this side. Kai Havertz impressed in his hold up play in place of injured Gabriel Jesus but is not a natural goalscorer and the third of their summer signings, Jurrien Timber, was faultless. For City, they looked secure at the back, even without €77m signing Josko Gvardiol, and could have scored more before Arsenal responded.
For Rice, who left West Ham in a deal with over €100m, the Community Shield was a genuinely big deal. He stated: "I am buzzing, this is what I visioned when I joined. City gave us what we expected, but I am buzzing – so happy. You have to have the patience against them, you have to have mini games within the game against them like the manager said to us before.
"I feel I've grown a lot in the last three weeks. There's a lot of information to take in of what the manager wants. I'm eager to learn and keep improving. I'm sure we can achieve anything this season.”
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