Community Shield: Morata, Courtois blunder gives Gunners a dramatic win

Arsenal won the Community Shield on penalties after a 4-1 shoot out victory against Chelsea at Wembley.

The Gunners had started the brighter of the two sides and went close when Alexandre Lacazette struck an effort against the post midway through the first half.

However, after entering the break level, Chelsea were ahead after the restart when Victor Moses capitalised on some lax defending from a corner to put the Blues ahead.

Chelsea looked comfortable until Pedro was sent off ten minutes from time for a nasty challenge on Mohamed Elneny and Arsenal scored from the resulting set piece with Sead Kolasinac opening his account for the Gunners.

Kolasinac’s late strike took the game to penalties – where the new ‘ABBA system’ was trialled – and the Gunners came out on top after Alvaro Morata and Thibaut Courtois missed for Chelsea.

Star man

The Nigerian let his team-mates down in May when he was sent-off for a second booking after taking a dive in the FA Cup final.

Chelsea were getting back in the game but Moses’ sending-off gave the Gunners a huge advantage.

The 26-year-old was out to make amends today and put his side ahead shortly after half-time when he nipped in at the back post to smash one past Petr Cech.

It’s not quite redemption for his red card but Moses showed what a valuable asset he is in Conte’s system and his marauding runs down the right flank were a constant threat for Arsenal.