toptop
Arsene
Wenger earned his first-ever win over Jose Mourinho as Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0
in the Community Shield at Wembley.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain broke the deadlock in the 24th minute when he cut in
from the right and fired a fine strike across goal and past Thibaut Courtois.
Ramires missed an excellent chance to equalise when he headed over from close
range and Eden Hazard also spurned a good opportunity following the introduction
of Radamel Falcao at half-time.
However, Arsenal held firm to lift the trophy for the second year in succession
and set themselves up well for the new Premier League season.
Defending champions Chelsea could be without Diego Costa for the start of the
campaign as he missed out at Wembley with a hamstring injury.
Loic Remy came in to replace Costa while Arsenal named goalkeeper Petr Cech in
their starting line-up following his summer move across London and Theo Walcott,
who has just signed a lucrative new deal, led the Arsenal attack.
England midfielder Jack Wilshere missed out, presumably as a precaution against
injury, and Olivier Giroud started on the bench.
With Remy leading the line, the league champions were lively early on but
neither side managed to create any clear chances.
When the first opportunity did arrive in the 24th minute, Arsenal took the lead.
Mesut Ozil played the ball across to Walcott in space, who in turn fed
Oxlade-Chamblerlain on the overlap down the right.
The midfielder strode into the Chelsea penalty area before cutting back inside
Cesar Azpilicueta and drilling a left-foot shot into the far corner to score
Arsenal's first goal against the Blues since January 2013.
The Premier League champions were soon looking to reassert their authority
though as Ramires curled an effort just wide from outside the penalty area
before somehow heading over Remy's cross from inside the six-yard box.
As half-time approached, Oxlade-Chamberlain got away down the right again but
this time his floated ball back across goal was headed away by Branislav
Ivanovic just as Nacho Monreal set himself to score.
Mourinho made a change for the second half when Remy was replaced by Falcao and
soon afterwards sent Oscar into the action for Ramires.
Arsenal, though, remained an effective defensive unit, something which had been
lacking in recent meetings with the Blues.
They did receive a let-off, however, when Hazard broke into the right side of
the penalty area on the hour mark and blasted the ball high over Cech's goal.
Former Chelsea 'keeper Cech produced a good save to keep out a curling 20-yard
free-kick from Oscar in the 68th minute and Arsenal continued to hold firm as
the clock wore down.
They almost made it 2-0 in the closing stages when Santi Cazorla's chipped
effort was saved by Courtois and Aaron Ramsey's follow-up was deflected just
wide.
Kieran Gibbs was then denied in stoppage time by another good block from the
Chelsea 'keeper but Arsenal held out for victory ahead of the 2015/16 season
next weekend.
Teams
Chelsea Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c) (Moses 82),
Azpilicueta (Zouma 69), Ramires (Oscar 54), Matic, Willian, Fabregas, Hazard,
Remy (Falcao 45)
Subs Not Used Begovic, Mikel, Cuadrado
Booked Azpilicueta
Goals
Arsenal Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal,
Coquelin, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arteta 77), Ramsey, Ozil (Gibbs 82),
Walcott (Giroud 66)
Subs Not Used Martinez, Debuchy, Gabriel, Iwobi
Booked Coquelin
Goals Oxlade-Chamberlain 24
Attendance 85,437
Referee Anthony Taylor