Arsenal have
warmed up for the new Premier League season with a penalty-shootout victory
over Chelsea in the Community Shield.
After goals
from Victor Moses and Sead Kolasinac led to the game ending 1-1 after normal
time, Thibaut Courtois and Alvaro Morata missed from 12 yards in the resulting
shootout to give Arsenal a win they probably deserved.
Arsenal
began strongly after the short trip across North London with Danny Welbeck
seeing a header comfortably saved by Courtois after meeting a floated pass from
Granit Xhaka.
Two bookings
in quick succession for Cesar Azpilicueta and Hector Bellerin highlighted that neither
side were treating the game as a friendly, but chances were few and far between
until Arsenal went close midway through the half.
The ball was
worked to Alexandre Lacazette just inside the penalty area and although his curling
effort beat Courtois, it struck the post and went clear.
There was a
break in play after Per Mertesacker sustained a nasty cut above his eye after being
accidentally elbowed by Gary Cahill after losing the ball in the Sun, but it
benefited Chelsea who then enjoyed their best period of the opening 45 minutes.
A raking
pass from Willian to Pedro set up the Spaniard for a shot on goal, but his
strike towards the near top corner was well kept out by former Chelsea stopper
Petr Cech.
A minute
before the break, Alex Iwobi curled the ball straight at Courtois but both
teams deserved to go into the changing rooms on level terms after a competitive
half.
Straight
after the restart, however, Chelsea took the lead through Moses, who converted
from close range after reacting quickest to Cahill's header back into the
penalty area.
Moments
later, Michy Batshuayi miscued a volley straight at Cech as the Premier League champions
looked to seize control but just before the hour mark, Courtois was forced into
a brilliant intervention to keep out Mohamed Elneny's driven cross.
Both teams
began to make substitutions and that hindered the flow of the game, but Arsenal
almost found an equaliser out of nowhere with 15 minutes remaining when the
fingertips of Courtois tipped a 30-yard strike from Xhaka wide of the post.
However,
after Pedro was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Elneny, Arsenal found
their leveller from the resulting free kick as Kolasinac headed into the bottom
corner from Xhaka's pass.
Arsenal had
the momentum throughout the closing stages, but they were unable to force more work
out of Courtois and both teams were forced to settle for a penalty shootout.
Using the
new 'ABBA' method, Arsenal scored each of their four attempts, with Courtois drilling
a spot kick over the crossbar and Morata striking the outside of the post to gift
Arsene Wenger's side the win.
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