The Gunners defeated Manchester City on penalties at Wembley after an entertaining 1-1 draw. Leandro Trossard's 110th minute equaliser denied Pep Guardiola's side victory after Cole Palmer's strike looked set to be the winner.
Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri both missed from 12-yards before Fabio Vieira netted the winning penalty to round-off another successful visit to Wembley Stadium for Arteta.
"It feels great," the Gunners boss said. "I don't think it gets much better than winning a trophy at Wembley against the best team in the world, doing it the way we did. It's really encouraging.
"We had some great moments, especially in the first half with three massive chances. Unfortunately when you don't put them away, you know what can happen."
The victory is the first time Arsenal have defeated Man City since July 2020, a 2-0 FA Cup semi-final win behind-closed-doors. And after Aaron Ramsdale admitted it felt like a mental block had been lifted, there is now a real feeling that the Gunners can compete for the Premier League title again this season.
Last term, the north Londoners led the way at the top until April before Man City's near-perfect run denied Arsenal of their first league title in 19 years. After investing over £200million on Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz, the Gunners are now among the names to compete at the right end of the table this year.
However, many will be aware of the recent Community Shield curse. The last three winners - Liverpool, Leicester City and then Liverpool again - have struggled to meet their pre-season expectations after winning the first trophy of the season.
Amid all the celebrations of finally beating Man City, Arsenal have been sent a teasing message from Erling Haaland's father, Alfie. The former City and Leeds man often took to Twitter over the course of last season to send amusing messages throughout the title race and has started again.
@TrollFootball's tweet referring to Haaland's disappointing performance at Wembley similar to last season's blank against Liverpool was quoted by Alfie. He wrote: "Well done Arsenal, great win. You must be favourites for the league now."
0 Comments