When the curtain went up on the new Premier League season at the Principality Stadium, Manchester City recoiled at what they saw. Pep Guardiola was not standing on the touchline for a start. In his stead, poor Enzo Maresca looked like a man blotted out by the shadow of his predecessor’s greatness.
Even the Arsenal supporters seemed startled by it. ‘Are you Tottenham in disguise?’ they sung before half-time. And then, to remind City that Arsenal are the new kings, Gunners fans turned their backs on the pitch and did ‘the Poznan’, City’s signature dance of delight. Maresca was serenaded with chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’.
It would be unwise to extrapolate too much from this encounter but it would still be fair to say that Arsenal are going into the new season infused with the belief and the joy of being defending champions for the first time in 22 years while City are gripped by the uncertainty that comes with losing one of the greatest coaches of all time.
If you want one example of the exuberance of this crushing win, then look no further than Arsenal’s third goal, two minutes after the interval. One of their two new signings, Christos Tzolis, stole in from the left and played a ball to Martin Odegaard, who looks a player rejuvenated by his World Cup adventure with Norway, and was the man of the match.
Odegaard took it first time, the way a rugby player might take a line-breaking pass. His first touch took him clear of the City defence and left him with only Gianluigi Donnarumma to beat. Odegaard shaped to shoot and sat Donnarumma down on his backside. He took one more touch and then rolled the ball nonchalantly into the back of the net. It was champagne stuff.
Arsenal had grown in confidence from the end of last season, when they dragged themselves over the line to win the title. This was a team that knows now that it can win big. This was a team that did not shrink from its dominance but revelled in it. In this match, at least, they more than justified their status as favourites to win the league for a second season in succession.
Arsenal raised the Community Shield aloft after outclassing long-time rivals Man City in style
In his first match against Premier League opposition since taking over in Manchester, Enzo Maresca did not persuade fans the post-Pep Guardiola era would be easy
Their chances would be helped if they did not sell Myles Lewis-Skelly before the end of the transfer window. Lewis-Skelly has been linked with a move to Chelsea but he was the dynamo at the heart of the Arsenal midfield and gelled well with Arsenal’s other new signing, Bruno Guimaraes, before Declan Rice came on in the second half.
A reminder of Arsenal’s formidable strength in depth arrived midway through the second half when, with his team 3-0 up, Bukayo Saka came off the bench to resounding cheers from the Arsenal support. Maresca looked bewildered as he looked on in the sunshine. He knew following Guardiola would not be easy. This match underlined how difficult it is going to be.
It was also a reminder of what life may look like without Rodri. The Spain midfielder was not included in the squad and is rumoured to be close to a move to Barcelona. City missed his control badly. Maresca is said to want to buy Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea to help replace him but Fernandez is no Rodri.
Elliot Anderson, City’s new £116m signing from Nottingham Forest, worked hard but looked a little lost in a midfield that was overrun by Arsenal’s. This defeat felt like a foretaste of the struggles City will face as they try to embrace life after the man who has dominated the club for a decade.
Arsenal had opened the scoring almost before Maresca had taken his seat in the City dug-out. Ben White played a pass across the face of the area and Lewis-Skelly slipped a brilliant pass inside a City defender to Riccardo Calafiori. Calafiori had time to look up and rifle his shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma. It was not quite the start Maresca had been hoping for.
City looked disjointed and full of uncertainty in the early stages. Arsenal were brimming with confidence. Odegaard nutmegged Anderson in the middle of the pitch, Noni Madueke stretched play on the right and Guimaraes looked comfortable alongside Lewis-Skelly.
It was 20 minutes until City mustered anything that resembled a chance. A shot from Phil Foden bounced just in front of David Raya but even though he could only push it back into the danger area, it was scrambled away. They remained very much second best. It was strange to see them looking so diminished.
Martin Odegaard was in particular sparkling form as the Premier League champions ran riot
Man City fans in the stand let their feelings be known as they prepared for their first season in 10 years without their Catalan ex-manager
Arsenal got the second goal their superiority deserved in the 28th minute. Odegaard curled a cross deep to the back post where Arsenal’s other debutant, Christos Tzolis, headed it across goal towards Kai Havertz. Havertz leapt and nodded the ball down and even though Donnarumma got his hands to it, he could not keep it out.
City had two chances to get back into the game in the space of 30 seconds just before half-time. First, Jeremy Doku played a ball back to Erling Haaland but his sidefooted shot was too close to Raya. Then Doku met a pass on the volley eight yards out but his effort was deflected over the bar by Ben White.
But then Odegaard got the third just after the interval and even City knew the jig was up. For Maresca, the match became an exercise in damage limitation. And when City did fashion a chance ten minutes before the end, Raya provided an example of what a fine defensive unit Arsenal are with a brilliant one-handed stop to deny Antoine Semenyo.
It was City’s last chance to salvage something from a sobering afternoon. Life without Guardiola has not started well.
