Arsenal won again at Wembley to take home the Community Shield, becoming the first team to via the new ABBA penalties.
So how did the players do?
Defence
Petr Cech 7
Quick out of his box when Bellerin played him into trouble, saved well from Pedro, sort of at his near-post too. Couldn’t do much about the goal. Didn’t save a penalty but didn’t need to.
Rob Holding 6.5
Are we still sorry he didn’t cost £50? Yes, yes we are.
Still, for what we did pay for him you’d expect him not to just stand and watch Victor Moses score. Two tackles, two interceptions.
Per Mertesacker 5
Got an elbow to the face and a few stitches to his eyebrow which was much better than the broken nose I thought he had.
https://twitter.com/gaygooners/status/894190225773256704
It’s a good job Laurent Koscielney isn’t banned for the first two games of the season, eh? Oh, wait…
Nacho Monreal 7
It’s not really using Nacho’s best abilities by sticking him as the central defender, but you do what you must when the rest are unavailable. Three tackles, one interception, one clearance.
Can he take all our penalties?
Midfield next
Midfield
Mohamed Elneny 7
Almost scored from what should have been a cross but seemed to be an insane shot. Solid as usual.
Granit Xhaka 8
Not gonna lie, his passes get me more excited than is normal for a healthy person. Helped by Chelsea’s slow pressing, he was allowed time and space to pick players at ease.
It was his awful clearance from a Chelsea corner, however, that gifted them possession leading to the opening goal.
His long range effort should have found the net but it was matched by an even better save from Courtois. Perfect delivery for Arsenal’s equaliser.
Was voted Man of the Match by BTSport.
https://twitter.com/ArsenalsRelated/status/894215563597238272
Hector Bellerin 5.5
I know he came back later than the others but his form has been concerning and this isn’t a new thing.
Was asleep for the Moses goal, sharing some of the culpability with Holding and Xhaka.
Put more thought into his summer holiday snaps than his crosses. A pass accuracy in the low 70s tells you all you need to know, really.
https://twitter.com/HectorBellerin/status/888722335473258496
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 6
Started really brightly but after a few elephant first touches went missing and didn’t return often. His passing accuracy was appalling – below 70%.
Forwards next
Forwards
Danny Welbeck 7.5
There are rumours that Everton want Welbeck if they can’t have Giroud. They can just f**k off.
If Welbz could finished he’d be worth £75m or more. He can’t.
But what a great player, apart from that.
Wasn’t moving too freely when he was replaced by Nelson.
Alex Iwobi 7
Looking like a man with a point to prove after a disappointing campaign last season, and stepping in for the injured Mesut Ozil, Iwobi showed some exceptional footwork in the Chelsea box. Quietened down as the game wore on and was replaced in the second half.
Alexandre Lacazette 7
Smacked the post with a lovely curled effort in the first half and showed great movement throughout. Sadly, the service to him wasn’t good enough. 94.4% pass accuracy was the best of the day from both sides.
Gave an interview before the game in which he mentioned that the Premier league was faster. Immediately after, Steven Gerrard was discussing how Lacazette had already said he struggles with the pace.
Just sit back folks and watch another narrative being born…
Subs
Sead Kolasinac 8
On as a first half sub for Mertesacker, he impressed once again. Not a single person in the Premier League is going to mess with him. Ever.
https://twitter.com/HLeeHurley/status/894201009316220932
Scored the equaliser and loved it.
Theo Walcott 5
Had a scuffed shot, then another poor effort after some great skill to make himself space. Tried, fell over. Just Theo, really.
Olivier Giroud 5
Touched the ball five times with a pass accuracy of 33.3%. Yup.
Then again, he did win the game for us with his penalty so….
Reiss Nelson 5
Didn’t really have much time to do anything.
Any other business?
Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil were notable by their absence for the squad, depite Wenger saying that they should be ok to play.
Laurent Koscielny was also missing again, a worrying development given the problems he had over pre-season. Arsenal said it was because he’s banned for the first two games of the season. Let’s hope that is all it is.
Bobby Madley may not quite be his same old useless self. He booked Hector (rightly) for a late tackle yet only gave Marcus ‘he wanted it more’ Alonso a talking-to for the same on Lacazette. He did get the penalty call right, to his credit, as he spotted Willian kicking himself. And he sent Pedro off for the type of tackle that should see red more often.