- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger victorious over Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho for the first time in 14 attempts
- The Gunners lift the Community Shield at Wembley just over two months after their FA Cup success at same venue
- Former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech kept a clean sheet on his Arsenal debut and was largely untroubled
- Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a fine left-footed effort midway through the first half to settle the match
Finally, after 14 attempts, Arsene Wenger has sussed this Chelsea side out. Jose Mourinho’s team is good, but they are not that good.
The mental block, the psychological edge that Mourinho played upon during the numerous childish exchanges, asides and squabbles down the years has just been stripped away.
What better place, what grander stage to do it than Wembley, a week ahead of the opening fixtures in the Barclays Premier League. Let battle commence.
Arsenal had to work for this, protecting a first-half lead given to them after a belting goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain by eventually chugging their way to victory against the champions.
This is not the Thierry Henry vintage of 2004 at Arsenal, the pomp of the Dennis Bergkamp team that won the domestic Double in 1998 and again in 2002. But it is coming together nicely.
Chelsea were made to look ordinary and functional, a side that looks as though the improvisation and clever skills of their match-winning players has finally been coached out of them. They looked average.
Wembley is Arsenal’s home now, winning successive FA Cup semi-finals, FA Cup finals and now Community Shields. They look the part.
This was a triumph for their expansive first-half football, playing fast and loose in the final third of the field with the game full of runs from Theo Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Ozil, as ever, provided the intelligence to this team.
The challenge for Arsenal is to replicate this over 38 games, starting with West Ham on Sunday and then finishing it all off for this enlightened Wenger team against Aston Villa on May 15.
This time last year they had us all over, sweeping the champions Manchester City aside with a breathtaking performance.
They won 3-0 and still finished behind them in the league. This time round they have a keeper of class and pedigree, certainly the best since Jens Lehmann and quite possibly even Safe Hands himself, David Seaman.
‘(Petr) Cech’s a Gooner’ they sang from behind his goal in the second half after he had denied the substitute Oscar from scoring an equaliser for his former club. Cech is Arsenal through and through now.
MATCH FACTS
- Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arteta 77), Cazorla, Ozil (Gibbs 82), Walcott (Giroud 66).
- Subs not used: Martinez, Debuchy, Gabriel, Iwobi. Booked: Coquelin.
- Goal: Oxlade-Chamberlain 24.
- Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (Moses 82), Azpilicueta (Zouma 69), Matic, Ramires (Oscar 54), Willian, Fabregas, Hazard, Remy (Falcao 45).
- Subs not used: Begovic, Cuadrado, Mikel.
- Booked: Azpilicueta.
- Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
In front of him were 10 determined outfield men, straight off the success of the Emirates Cup and into this fiery Community Shield clash with Chelsea.
It started nice and niggly. Ramires left a bit on Ozil early on, there were one or two nibbles at Walcott’s ankles and Branislav Ivanovic clipped Santi Cazorla down Arsenal’s left.
This was a strange and subdued Chelsea, perhaps playing catch up after a whirlwind trip to the United States that included games in Washington, Charlotte and New Jersey.
This trophy, shield, Super Cup, call it what you will, means a lot to Mourinho.
He counts them, not in the same way as the league titles he has won in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain, or the Champions League he won with Porto or Inter Milan. But he counts them all the same.
With the exception of Diego Costa, this is pretty much Chelsea’s team to defend their Premier League title and yet they looked leggy and lethargic. At times, they were miles off the pace.
Walcott’s first chance, from a linked free-kick by Ozil out on the left, was excellent read by Chelsea’s keeper Thibaut Courtois.
At the moment Arsenal went ahead, after 24 minutes, it would not be stretching the imagination to say that this was a dreadful Chelsea performance.
They do no look ready. Arsenal are bristling with their early season confidence and went in front when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain completed a sweeping move in the 24th minute.
It was manufactured out on the left by Ozil, finding Walcott in the centre and playing one more pass into the feet of Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The Arsenal winger, in the team because of the injury to Jack Wilshere, twisted his way into the penalty area and cut inside to beat Courtois with a sweet left-foot strike.
They deserved to be in front, mostly the better team as Francis Coquelin rattled bones in Chelsea’s midfield with a couple of thunderous challenges. Sometimes, even Arsenal have to mix it up.
There was a response by Chelsea, of sorts, when Ramires bent an effort around Cech’s post and perhaps should have done better with a free header from Willian’s cross.
‘Boring boring Chelsea’ chimed the Arsenal supporters, a reminder of last season’s strangulation on the way to winning their third Premier League title under Mourinho.
After the break they flickered, relying on the dancing feet of Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard as they tried to force a breakthrough.
Radamel Falcao, on as a replacement for the disappointing figure of Loic Remy, appeared to handle when he was first put clean through on goal.
On that occasion Arsenal managed to tidy up.
He wanted a penalty next, falling easily as he made his way down the right channel.
Their best chance came when Oscar bent a free-kick over the wall, calling on Cech to make a fine, diving save to his right to turn the ball around the post. This mean so much to Wenger, particularly after he was put away by Mourinho so spectacularly in the build-up to this clash at Wembley.
This time, it is Mourinho’s turn to wonder how this happened.
