Arsenal beat Liverpool 5-4 on penalties on Saturday to lift the Community Shield, the curtain-raiser for the English domestic season, after the two sides played out a 1-1 draw on a chilly afternoon at Wembley.
Gunners captain and match goal-scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang blasted home the final kick of the afternoon to complete the north London side's second win over the league champion in the space of six weeks after a shortened summer break.
HIGHLIGHTS | Liverpool vs Arsenal - Community Shield
Mohamed Salah, Fabinho, match goal-scorer Takumi Minamino and Curtis Jones all scored for Liverpool in the shootout, but late substitute Rhian Brewster blasted his shot onto the bar.
Reiss Nelson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Cedric Soares and David Luiz all scored for the Gunners, before Aubameyang finished the job to lift his second trophy within a month following the side's FA Cup final win over Chelsea on August 1.
Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk had an early strike ruled out offside before Arsenal's opener, a well-worked move to break out of the champion's high press.
Bukayo Saka took the ball up the field on the right, crossed all the way over to Aubameyang on the far left, and the Gabon striker skipped forward and curled an inch-perfect shot beyond the reach of Liverpool keeper Alisson into the opposite corner.
The Liverpool attack appeared disjointed by contrast. While it pushed Arsenal right back up the field for long stretches, it was unable to put together a single shot on goal in the first half.
Liverpool's Japanese substitute Takumi Minamino eventually levelled the tie in the 73rd minute with a shot from close range, picking up his first goal in 15 appearances since arriving on Merseyside in January from Red Bull Salzburg.
“If we'd scored earlier that would have helped ... We had our big moments, which we didn't finish off, so that's the result,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told reporters.
When asked about whether he will renew his contract with Arsenal which currently expires next summer, Aubameyang - its leading scorer for the last two seasons - remained enigmatic: “We're going to see in these days. Today we take the trophy, that's it.”
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta sounded more positive about both Aubameyang's contract and the team as a whole, saying: “I try to do my job which is to convince him he's at the right place. I'm very positive he is going to sign.”
Comments
SHARE