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It was probably fitting that a sense of emptiness, sometimes impressively intense, Community Shield ended with a penalty shoot-out. An even game had ended 1-1 after 90 spirited minutes. At that time it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, current king of Wembley, who scored the winning penalty, ensuring that the first trophy of the new season went to Arsenal, who also won the last trophy of the old one.
Rhian Brewster was the only player to miss on the penalty shoot-out as he had just arrived on the court and slammed the ball hard against the crossbar. The truth is that neither team seemed really set to win this game, although there were intriguing subplots. Arsenal’s impressive counterattack shakeup with Mikel Arteta continued. And Takumi Minamino not only scored his first goal for Liverpool, he fell deep and found some unusual attacking gaps in the second half.
There was an air of sadness around Wembley at the start, as there have been many of the empty sporting occasions of the last six months. Although it may not be so. Has there been a calmer and more melancholy flag day in English football than a Community Shield without a community, the traditional raising the curtain at a time when the curtains were drawn, the return of a season on a rainy August day with the slag from the last one still dripping? around the bottom of the glass?
Not that Liverpool seemed to have noticed in the opening minutes. Some things, it seems, go on regardless. One of them is those simple and tough patterns of the champion team Jürgen Klopp. Here Liverpool played the usual form, with the promising Neco Williams as right-back.
Arsenal was a mixed version of the formation of the full-backs that has brought them some success. Mohamed Elneny returned for his first game with Arsenal in 15 months. But it was Aubameyang who lit up this match with 12 minutes remaining.
Williams had already given James Milner a shot with a beautiful cross from the right, and Milner came forward awkwardly. Moments later, Arsenal broke through with gripping precision. Bukayo Saka extended a pass from right to left on Aubameyang Road. He drifted in, leaving Williams a bit mesmerized by that familiar shark-like slide. Four quick touches with the right foot brought Aubameyang into the shooting zone at the edge of the penalty area. The right-hand shot was a beautiful thing, veering in a lovely soft arc out of Alisson’s left hand and into the corner.
Arsenal had played like this against Manchester City in the FA Cup final, sitting on a deep double beam and breaking with precision. They nearly scored again five minutes later when Eddie Nketiah stole Joe Gomez just outside the center circle, grabbed the ball from Saka but saw him low shot saved in extremis by Alisson.
On his sideline, Klopp looked pensive in a red and white baseball cap and a gray Wembley sports suit. Mikel Arteta was, as always, a whirlwind of frenzied energy, one hand tucked into his pocket, the other pointing and flexing endlessly, like a man in a disco trying desperately not to dance. An empty game on empty ground, but this was a wonderful start for the Arsenal manager, two well-trained local attackers with a combined age of 39 who led Liverpool’s defense into awkward ways.
After which Liverpool started to open the throttle, but struggled to find any real clarity near the goal. Ten minutes before the break, a period of sustained pressure brought in a wonderful cross from the left by Andy Robertson that bubbled between goalkeeper and defense. There were endless blocks from Arsenal as the game sometimes had the rhythms of a one-way FA Cup tie. At one point, Liverpool won four corners in quick succession.
But Granit Xhaka and Elneny kept the ground in the middle, Nketiah was an obsessive and workaholic presence up front, constantly preoccupied with Virgil van Dijk. And Arsenal went into halftime looking happier at 1-0, a team whose game plan was fitting.
Liverpool found more space early in the second half as Arsenal had a bit more possession. In the 55th minute, Sadio Mané made a great run behind Rob holding up Robertson’s pass, but saw Emiliano Martínez make a great save from close range to slip the ball into the net. Soon after, Milner was booked for a late, cynical thrust to Nketiah’s ankle as he sped off into space.
With half an hour to play, Minamino walked in and immediately looked brilliant, offering a slightly different set of moves to those familiar flanking waves. There was a twist and a shot from deep. And finally it was Minamino who scored the tie at 73 minutes.
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Liverpool’s attack had reorganized into a three-man trident behind Roberto Firmino. As they pressed again, Minamino approached Mohamed Salah, exchanged passes, deflected a deflection from his teammate’s body, and then moved his feet cleanly into the smaller spaces to get Martinez the ball rolling. It was a clever ending and more importantly a good piece of inventive interaction with Salah, who had moved in before exchanging passes.
Minamino was falling deep and playing like some kind of roving number 10 at times. Liverpool may have lacked this kind of threat when teams defend in depth, the player who moves in less predictable patterns, who enjoys finding space between compressed defensive lines. But Arsenal held on and, ultimately, deserved winners.
