Chelsea and Arsenal brought their respective pre-seasons to a close today as the Premier League champions and FA Cup holders contested the Community Shield at Wembley.
The clash was a repeat of May's FA Cup final, which saw Arsenal lift their third cup in four years after a 2-1 victory, which prevented Antonio Conte repeating the success of his Italian compatriot Carlo Ancelotti, who lifted the double in his first season in charge at Stamford Bridge, in 2010.
The Premier League champions were without Eden Hazard or wantaway striker Diego Costa, both of whom were so integral to last season's title victory, with £58 million newcomer Alvaro Morata kept on the bench with Antonio Rudiger while fellow new signing Tiemoue Bakayoko missed out through injury.
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Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, handed a start to £52 million man Alexandre Lacazette, with both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil missing for the Gunners.
As always, social media was abuzz throughout the match:
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The match would eventually go to a penalty shoot out, under the experimental new ABBA format, with Thibaut Courtois skying his effort over the bar and Morata dragging an awful penalty wide of the post before Olivier Giroud converted the match winning penalty to hand Arsenal the first piece of silverware of the season.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Community Shield, Chelsea, Football, Arsenal
