06 August 2023 , 20:30
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Pep Guardiola gave a measured take of his Manchester City side after they were beaten on penalties by Arsenal in the Community Shield.
Arsenal won 4-1 on penalties at Wembley after Leandro Trossard scored an equaliser in the 101st minute. Cole Palmer curled in the opener in the 77th minute and appeared to have City on course for a ninth successive win over Arsenal, only for the Gunners to make a comeback.
Trossard’s shot took a huge deflection off Manuel Akanji to send the match to penalties, where Arsenal prevailed. Kevin De Bruyne hit the crossbar and Rodri’s effort was saved by Aaron Ramsdale, while Martin Odegaard, Trossard, Bukayo Saka and Fabio Vieira all beat Stefan Ortega from the spot to win it.
City are further back in their preparations for the 2023/24 season, which starts against Burnley on Friday night. And in his assessment of the game, Guardiola was quick to point out how the Community Shield hasn’t affected his side in recent years.
"We lost three [Community Shields] in a row! But we won the Premier Leagues,” he said in his post-match press conference.
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City lost to Leicester and Liverpool in 2021 and 2022 respectively before suffering another defeat at the hands of Arsenal. Guardiola’s side have won the Premier League for the past three years – and their dominance has been such that they have claimed five of the past six titles.
Arsenal triumphed on penalties (AFP via Getty Images)Arsenal had lost their last eight matches against City going into the Community Shield, stretching back to July 2020 and Guardiola was not too disheartened by the loss. Ramsdale made two important saves from Phil Foden and Rodri before Trossard struck late in fortuitous circumstances.
“The team behaved unbelievably,” Guardiola said. “In the second half, the last minutes, attacking players were there and they pushed a lot and it’s normal.
“We are not the NBA that when you finish you have three months off to recover. Not here, especially here. In good seasons or bad seasons it didn’t happen. You have to adapt and that’s why I’m surprised how good we behaved. We faced an extraordinary team. It happened last season and it happened again.
“We were close and we are a little bit disappointed for the final result but it’s football. If you can’t win you can bring minutes to the players and I’m thinking of Friday, when we are going to Burnley to play.”
Guardiola is expecting a closer race for the Premier League title this season. "There are a lot of teams that are going to fight for everything and the challenge is massive for us,” he said.
"You cannot win more than we won, it's impossible. But the challenge is how hungry we are and if we still have the desire to defend what we won.”