My Actifit Report Card: August 17 2026
The community shield which is the curtain raider for the EPL took place between Arsenal and Manchester City. City had just lost their talismanic manager Pep Guardiola who stepped down as head coach at the end of the season. So Enzo Maresca was recruited to replace him.
But his reign which started with the community shield against Arsenal left much to be desired indeed. Within just 23 seconds, Arsenal had opened the floodgate of goals. At the end of the day Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard were the scorers on the day. (3-0) it ended in favour of the Gunnars.
That scoreline was Arsenal's biggest victory to nil against the Cityzens since August 2014 (also 3-0 in the Community Shield), while it was City's heaviest defeat to nil against an English side since going down to a 4-0 defeat in November 2024 against Tottenham.
Both teams had strengthened in this transfer window. This includes both ins and outs. On the ort of Manchester City, Bernardo Silva and John Stones were allowed to leave on free transfers and Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and James Trafford were sold for substantial fees.
Activities had gone quiet at the Etihad since the £116m deal for England midfielder Elliot Anderson was wrapped up. Just recently Rodri was sold to Barcelona.
On the part of Arsenal, fringe players like Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior and Christian Norgaard were sold and they brought in regular starters like Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis. Last season's loanee Piero Hincapie was tied down on a permanent deal.
Now that the die is cast, will City under Enzo Maresca maintain the heights Pep Guardiola had left them or was the (3-0) drubbing by Arsenal a sign of what is about to come?
That's it for now. Thanks for reading up to this point. Until next time, I say, keep exercising.
All images used here are original and mine too.
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io
