Trossard’s last-gasp goal sets up Arsenal for penalty shootout win over Man City
Sports Desk, Aug 6 (EFE).- Having lost eight straight matches to Manchester City, Arsenal on Sunday ended their losing streak with a last-gasp tally to tie things up at 1-1, thus setting up a penalty shootout win in the Community Shield contest before 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
It was Leandro Trossard who evened things up for Arsenal after Cole Palmer made an absolutely fabulous 77th-minute goal to get City on the board on a deflected shot.
Trossard found the twine in the 101st minute – 11 minutes into extra time – in the pre-season contest, forcing the shootout in which City’s Kevin De Bruyne hit the crossbar, Arsenal goaltender Aaron Ramsdale saved Rodri’s kick and midfielder Fabio Vieira scored the winning penalty kick for Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal had manufactured the only shots on goal throughout the first half with Kai Havertz – newly brought on board the team – getting into close range twice.
Later, Ramsdale did great work saving two excellent bang-bang shots on goal, fending off Phil Foden’s try and grabbing Rodrigo’s header to keep things at 0-1.
Palmer had scored after De Bruyne knocked a header his way, whereupon he planted himself inside the penalty zone and fired the ball into the far corner, easily beating Ramsdale and spurring City manager Pep Guardiola to leap with excitement on the sidelines.
Trossard’s tally came about after he carved out some room for himself on a feint at the edge of the box just before firing the ball, which was deflected past City netminder Stefan Ortega by Manuel Akanji In the shootout, Arsenal team captain Martin Odegaard, Trossard and Bukayo Saka all took their chances before Vieira, knocking in three penalty kicks, while Bernardo Silva was the only City player to score.
The win gives Arsenal 17 Community Shield victories, thus making them the No. 2 team in the contest’s history, four wins behind the record-holding Manchester United.
The penalty kicks went as follows: Odegaard hit for 1-0, De Bruyne miss 1-0, Trossard hit 2-0, Silva hit 2-1, Saka hit 3-1, Rodrigo miss 3-1, Vieira hit 4-1.
The Football Association Community Shield – formerly known as the Charity Shield – is English football’s annual pre-season match played at London’s Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup, although if the league champions also won the FA Cup, then the league runners-up provide the opposition. The contest, in its 101st year, is recognized as a competitive “super cup” by both The Football Association and UEFA.
Lineups:
Arsenal: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel (Smith Rowe, m. 87), Timber (Tierney, m. 76); Thomas, Rice (Nketiah, m. 81); Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli (Trossard, m. 75); Havertz (Fabio Vieira, m. 87).
Manchester City: Ortega Moreno; Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji; Rodrigo, Kovacic (De Bruyne, m. 64); Bernardo Silva, Julian Alvarez, Grealish (Foden, m. 58); Haaland (Palmer, m. 64).
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