The Gunners put an end to their Jose Mourinho curse last night with a 1-0 win over London rivals Chelsea at Wembley Stadium, capturing their second consecutive FA Community Shield in the process.
The 2015-16 campaign curtain-raiser was decided by a solitary goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose magnificent 24th minute strike sent the Gunners faithful into near-madness.
From the opening whistle this was a game played at high tempo and with pinpoint accuracy, both teams trying to break down the wing in particular. However, there was always the sense that Arsenal were getting the better of these early counter-attacking duels, surprising the reigning Premier League champions with the sting and intent in their passing.
After receiving the ball in the centre, Theo Walcott’s pass found Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right-side of the 18-yard area. In the face of Cesar Azpilicueta, the 21-year-old cutback onto his left foot and fired a curling shot that even the outstretched frame of Thibaut Courtois had little chance of stopping.
A full-strength Arsenal side will cause opposition headaches
Arsenal’s fast paced movement on the counter made Jose Mourinho’s widely-dominant backline look quite vulnerable, either a step too far forward which allowed a red attacker in behind, or one too far back to start a counter once winning a duel. Two of Chelsea’s most important attacking players, Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas, were almost completely shut-out of the game, finding it hard to get touches on the ball, let alone views on their former teammate between the posts.
Although missing a large part of the 2014-15 season with injury, midfielder Aaron Ramsay appears as lively as ever when on the pitch, looking for any opportunity to snipe an effort on goal from inside the box. Despite the control Chelsea began to exert over the game in the second-half, the Gunners faced the pressure with composure and only rarely looked like giving up the lead. Considering this memorable Arsenal victory was achieved without the services of Alexis Sanchez, if this setup can remain intact for the majority of the season only beautiful football and favourable results can follow.
Falcao unable to impact on debut in Blue
With Diego Costa watching on from the stands and Loic Remy failing to inspire in the opening-half, Mourinho decided that the time had come to re-introduce his major signing of the summer to English audiences.
Radamel Falcao took to the field upon the restart and although finding positions in dangerous areas around the goal, the Colombian was almost too-easily beaten by a defender before he could get a necessary touch on the ball in situations a hitman in his prime would be more than favourite to go on and hit the net.
With Hazard also subdued, the best chance for an equaliser came from a 68th minute Oscar free kick, needing a great save from Cech to stop the ball hitting the top-left corner. A shining light for the Blues was the tireless form of Willian – who possibly left a footprint on every inch of the Wembley field.
The Chelsea faithful, and the ‘Special One’ himself, should be a little nervous after the display of their back-up strikers. Based on the dull scorelines that came with the Spaniard’s previous absences, they can only hope that Costa’s hamstring is not as plaguing as the 2014-15 season
New sides taking shape for 2015-16
While there was silverware at stake, the Community Shield still provides a chance to test new signings against the high-quality opposition of the Premier League, and both line-ups from the match gave a glimpse of each manager’s intentions for the coming campaign.
After impressing in the latter stages of the 2014-15 season, 20-year-old Hector Bellerin looks to have become Wenger’s first choice at right-back, while Theo Walcott also retained a starting position up front. Though he has had more testing outings over his career, especially in the context of the opposition there must be a mention for Petr Cech, who in typical football irony defeated the team where he became a star at the first chance.
Set with the task of defending the title, little in terms of player quality needed to be added, but Mourinho is making sure that he has not only the best in every position, but also replacements that can still ensure results. Namely the young Kurt Zouma, who featured for the last 20 minutes and had a late chance to equalise the game from a set-piece, although his header was comfortably collected by the goalkeeper.
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The Mourinho curse is broken
In what has become a major subplot to any Arsenal match with Chelsea since Mourinho’s return to London, the 13 game winless streak of Arsene Wenger against his Portuguese rival is now over. Undoubtedly looking the best team on the day, the bigger test now comes as the Gunners will need to replicate this effort in order to beat their neighbours to the Premier League title.
However, like a Shakespearean drama the stage is set for further conflict between the two great managers after Mourinho refused a post-match handshake from his counterpart and proceeded to throw his runners-up medal into the Wembley stands.
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