COMMUNITY SHIELD
Why did Pep Guardiola take Erling Haaland off after an hour of Manchester City’s Community Shield loss to Arsenal?
Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri missed in a penalty shootout as The Gunners triumphed at Wembley following a last-gasp equaliser.
Arsenal have won the Community Shield after keeping Erling Haaland at bay to defeat Champions League and Premier League holders Manchester City in a shootout at Wembley. It looked as if Pep Guardiola’s team were on course for a narrow victory thanks to youngster Cole Palmer’s goal with 13 minutes of normal time to play. However, Leandro Trossard’s deflected effort in the 11th minute of injury time took the game to penalties, which The Gunners won 4-1.
Who plays in the Community Shield?
City have now lost each of the last three editions, which kicks off the new season and normally brings together the Premier League champions and FA Cup winners from the previous campaign. However, when the same team won both competitions, as was the case with City in 2022/23, they face the league runners-up.
Given the match’s somewhat debatable status over whether it’s a competitive fixture or not, Guardiola and his team won’t be too concerned about the outcome, especially considering the success they have had in recent years after being defeated at Wembley in August.
Erling Haaland substituted after ineffective performance
It is also probably far too much of an overreaction for anyone of a Manchester City persuasion to be concerned about Haaland, who ended the game as one of its main talking points. The Norwegian striker, who scored 52 goals in all competitions on the way to breaking a host of records last season, was surprisingly substituted by Guardiola after just 64 minutes, at which point the game was goalless.
The 23-year-old didn’t appear to be carrying an injury, with the City coach’s decision seemingly down to Haaland’s ineffectiveness against the Arsenal defence. The forward didn’t manage a single shot on goal or create an opportunity for a teammate, and touched the ball only 13 times in just over an hour before being replaced. Of course, the fact that we are still arguably in pre-season may also have played a part.
Haaland’s goalscoring drought
Despite his incredible goalscoring exploits, the Norway international scored just once in his last eight matches last term, including the Champions League and FA Cup finals. But with the new Premier League season just around the corner, with City kicking off against Burnley on Friday, we should know far better than to write him off.