Arsenal delivered a rousing demonstration of their Premier League title credentials by overwhelming league champions Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday (Aug 10).

Alexis Sanchez (2L) raises the trophy with team-mates after Arsenal won the FA Community Shield football match
against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in north London. (AFP/CARL COURT)

Arsenal delivered a rousing demonstration of their Premier League title credentials by overwhelming league champions Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday (Aug 10).

Buoyed by last season’s FA Cup success over Hull City, Arsene Wenger’s side took charge with first-half goals from Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey before substitute Olivier Giroud added a glorious long-range third.

With £30 million (US$50.5 million, 37.8 million euros) new signing Alexis Sanchez also impressing on a sunny afternoon in northwest London, Arsenal’s fans will hope it proves the precursor to a sustained title challenge, after seeing their side fall away last season.

“Two things were important today: to win a trophy, even though it is not a major one, and to play well, and I am very happy because we played some very good football,” said Wenger. “This showed that when the team is focused, we have a chance to win a league game. We want to go into each game with the same confidence and belief.”

Victory in the traditional season curtain-raiser – which witnessed the first use of vanishing spray in English football – suggests Arsenal are in fine fettle ahead of their opening league fixture at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

In mitigation for City, manager Manuel Pellegrini could point to the absences of first-teamers such as captain Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero, but his side’s rustiness will be cause for concern ahead of their season opener at Newcastle United.

“These things happen before the season starts,” Pellegrini told BT Sport. “It was not the pace we played in pre-season, but I will talk with the players and I am sure we will be ready to start the Premier League.”

GIROUD’S SUPERB STRIKE

With the millstone of a nine-year trophy drought no longer weighing them down, Arsenal made an assured start on their return to Wembley, with new signing Mathieu Debuchy obliging Gael Clichy to head a cross clear.

Debuchy then blocked a shot by Samir Nasri – lustily booed by the fans of his former club – at the other end, before Cazorla gave Arsenal the lead in the 21st minute. Jack Wilshere was felled on the edge of the box by Dedryck Boyata, but play continued and the ball ran to Cazorla, who threw Clichy off-balance with a clever feint before drilling home left-footed.

Edin Dzeko looked to get City level by racing away from Calum Chambers and teeing up Stevan Jovetic, but Laurent Koscielny produced a timely block. Moments later it was 2-0. From Sanchez’s sweeping through ball, Yaya Sanogo played a pass inside that was slightly behind Ramsey, but the Welshman checked his run and smartly chipped the ball on before drilling a shot into the bottom-left corner.

It had been a less than ideal first 45 minutes for new City goalkeeper Willy Caballero – who was preferred to Joe Hart – but he helped limit the damage in first-half stoppage time by rushing out to prevent Sanchez collecting a pass from Sanogo.

Sanchez made way for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after a lively first-half cameo on the right flank, while City were given fresh impetus by the introduction of David Silva. Jovetic twice threatened to halve Arsenal’s lead, heading against the post and blazing the rebound over before seeing a rasping 15-yard shot blocked by Wojciech Szczesny.

But Giroud put the game to bed on the hour, gathering the ball in the inside-right channel and launching a superb, dipping strike from 25 yards that plunged beneath the crossbar. Arsenal’s fans goaded their City counterparts by aping their backwards-facing ‘Poznan’ goal celebration.

The teams will resume hostilities in the Premier League on September 19, by which time Pellegrini will expect to have witnessed significant improvements.

Source AFP

World Cup sensation James Rodriguez is in line to make his Real Madrid debut when the European champions tackle Europa League winners Sevilla in Tuesday’s (Aug 12) all-Spanish UEFA Super Cup in Cardiff.

James Rodriguez controls a ball during his presentation at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium following his signing with
Spanish club Real Madrid in Madrid on July 22, 2014. (AFP/ PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU)

World Cup sensation James Rodriguez is in line to make his Real Madrid debut when the European champions tackle Europa League winners Sevilla in Tuesday’s (Aug 12) all-Spanish UEFA Super Cup in Cardiff.

Madrid’s 4-1 extra-time win over city rivals Atletico Madrid in Lisbon in May ended their 12-year wait for a 10th European Cup and they now look even stronger after a characteristically extravagant close-season recruitment drive. Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Keylor Navas arrived at the Bernabeu after impressing at the World Cup and all are in line to feature at the Cardiff City Stadium.

The first glimpse of 80-million-euro (US$108 million) playmaker Rodriguez in a Madrid shirt is keenly anticipated after he dazzled for Colombia in Brazil, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot. With the 23-year-old former Monaco playmaker joining Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in the Spanish capital, Madrid now possess three of the four most expensive players of all-time.

The trio could grace a pitch together for the first time in Cardiff, but like Kroos, who arrived from Bayern Munich after starring in Germany’s World Cup triumph, Rodriguez is short of fitness and unlikely to start. Along with Costa Rican goalkeeper Navas, the pair only returned to training last week and coach Carlo Ancelotti has admitted that his players are some way short of peak condition.

“We had to give holidays to some players until August 5,” said the Italian. “Therefore, we haven’t had much time to prepare for the game. We need to try our hardest in August to prepare the players in the best way possible for the new season.”

The Super Cup is one of six trophies that Madrid could win this season, but they are still searching for their first pre-season victory after two defeats and a draw on their tour of the United States. One player who seems certain to start is Welsh forward Bale, who was born and raised in Cardiff and went to school just four miles from Tuesday’s match venue.

‘DREAM COME TRUE’

Scorer of the decisive second goal in the Champions League final, the 25-year-old found the net twice in the US and is relishing the prospect of playing in front of his home crowd. “I knew the Super Cup would be played in Cardiff a good 18 months ago,” Bale told Spanish newspaper Marca.

“When I came to Real Madrid it was always a dream of mine that if we could win the Champions League, we could play in Cardiff. Now that dream has come true.”

Tuesday’s opponents will carry special significance for Bale, for it was against Sevilla last October that he scored a brace in a 7-3 win that truly launched his Madrid career. Ancelotti’s side enjoyed less success in the return fixture, going down 2-1 in March in a game that fatally undermined their league title bid, so the reunion in the Welsh capital will also offer an opportunity for revenge.

Sevilla beat Benfica on penalties in the Europa League final in Turin to win the competition for the third time in nine seasons. They have lost influential Croatian playmaker Ivan Rakitic to Barcelona, while Stephane Mbia – scorer of a decisive injury-time goal against Valencia in the Europa League semi-finals – has returned to parent club Queens Park Rangers.

But Spanish forward Iago Aspas could make his debut against Madrid, having joined from Liverpool on a season-long loan. Coach Unai Emery has dismissed suggestions that the comparative lack of World Cup players in his squad will give Sevilla an advantage, but he has backed his team to pull off an upset.

“How can we possibly be favourites against Real Madrid?” he said. “They haven’t had much time to train and won’t be at their best level, but that doesn’t make them not favourites. It is clear, though, that we have the capabilities and resources to enjoy a great final and win it.”

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Cech, who has been at Chelsea since 2004, has not started a Premier League game this season having fallen behind Thibaut Courtois in the pecking order after the Belgium goalkeeper returned from a loan spell at Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea’s Petr Cech waves his arms during the English League Cup soccer match against Bolton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge in London September 24, 2014.

“I have not spoken to anyone, but I think they know me well enough at the club (Chelsea) to know that the situation is definitely not the way I would imagine,” Cech told Czech radio while on international duty.

“With the Euros (in 2016) and the national team in mind, there is no time for me to sit on the bench and not to play. If the situation will not start to improve for me, then I will want to solve it.”

Cech, who is set to start for the Czech Republic against Turkey in a European Championship qualifier on Friday, featured in his only league game this season when he replaced the injured Courtois in the first half against Arsenal on Sunday.

Source: Reuters

Manchester United’s Spanish midfielder Juan Mata says the team have shown during their pre-season tour of the United States that they believe in the new system introduced by Dutch coach Louis van Gaal.

Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata (8) kicks and scores in the first half against AS Roma at Sports Authority Field

United wrapped up their U.S. tour with a 3-1 win over rivals Liverpool in the International Champions Cup final in Miami on Monday and after defeating Real Madrid on Saturday the mood among Van Gaal’s squad is buoyant ahead of their Aug. 16 Premier League opener against Swansea.

“It was a good tour for us, a good two or three weeks trying to get ready physically and mentally while trying to adapt to the new system,” Mata told ManUtd.com. “Obviously, we didn’t lose a game which is good for the confidence but the most important thing is that we believe in what we are doing.

United played in front of huge crowds in the United States with 86,000 watching them beat L.A. Galaxy in California and a massive 109,000 in Michigan for a 3-1 win over Real Madrid as the club proved once again their global popularity.

“We take home a lot of love from the supporters. It was amazing from the first day until the last – in every stadium, in every training camp and in every hotel. I think (the highlights were) the support and obviously the new ideas that the manager has brought,” said Mata.

Van Gaal’s 3-5-2 formation has seen Mata, who scored a well-taken goal against Liverpool, employed in an advanced playmaker role and that appears to suit him well.

“I feel good and I feel comfortable in this position. I have to do what the manager wants me to do, both offensively and defensively, and I am trying to do that. It can be a good position for me to try to perform to my best,” he said.

After a disappointing seventh place finish in the Premier League last year under David Moyes, United will be expected to be back in the title hunt and, at the very least, ensure a return to the Champions League with a top four finish.

“We are all excited to start the new season,” said Mata, “Everybody wants to do better, we want to fight for the trophies and this club deserves that. We will try our best.”

Forward Wayne Rooney, who also scored against Liverpool, gave his backing to Van Gaal’s approach.

“He is a tough but fair manager. He has been great since he has come in and he has given us all a different way of looking at football that we didn’t have before. So it’s been great for us and hopefully that will continue,” he said.

Source: Reuters