'Can we play you every week?': Arsenal humiliate Maresca's City 3-0 in Community Shield as post-Guardiola reality bites

Enzo Maresca's first meaningful game as Manchester City manager lasted 24 seconds before everything went wrong.

Riccardo Calafiori peeled off Abdukodir Khusanov to finish after Myles Lewis-Skelly rolled Phil Foden and released a sumptuous reverse ball. Between Lewis-Skelly rolling the ball to Martin Odegaard at kick-off and Calafiori rippling the net, City had a single touch of the ball.

Kai Havertz doubled Arsenal's lead on 28 minutes, heading past Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made a hash of his attempt to keep the ball out. Odegaard sealed the win three minutes into the second half by feinting to shoot, sending Donnarumma seesawing to his left, then firing in a simple finish. "Can we play you every week?" came the chant from the Arsenal fans.

How bad was it for City?

On this evidence, the post-Guardiola era could be trickier than widely envisaged. City, without Rodri amid doubts over his future with Barcelona pushing to sign the midfielder, lacked any semblance of control.

Donnarumma was particularly unconvincing, at fault for the second and embarrassed for the third. Elliot Anderson, making his first appearance since the World Cup and his £116 million move from Nottingham Forest, was "unusually overwhelmed" according to The Guardian. Antoine Semenyo was muted. Erling Haaland's only real sight of goal ended with a wayward shot wide of David Raya's net.

As Arsenal cavorted around the pitch presenting the trophy, Haaland trudged down the tunnel with his hands clasped behind his back.

Were there any positives for City?

Maresca felt the reaction to the early goal was encouraging. Raya got a strong palm to a Haaland shot from distance, and Ben White made a magnificent block to prevent the Norwegian a simple finish. But City had been "lightly raced" with only three pre-season matches compared to Arsenal's six outings, and it showed.

Who impressed for Arsenal?

Lewis-Skelly, the teenager United turned down last week at £45 million, played 75 minutes in central midfield and was outstanding. Calafiori wagged his finger towards Lewis-Skelly after his goal, highlighting the teenager's role. Christos Tzolis shone on the left, assisting two goals and playing more passes into the final third than any Arsenal player. Bruno Guimaraes, wearing the No 39 shirt (a nod to his father's taxi number in Rio), was busy on his debut before being replaced by Declan Rice at half-time.

What is next?

City host Bournemouth next Sunday in their Premier League opener. Arsenal begin the defence of their title at home to Coventry on Friday.