Maresca disappointed as Arsenal’s three-goal Community Shield win sets City challenge

Enzo Maresca said Manchester City’s early concession was decisive after they were beaten 3-0 by Arsenal in the English Community Shield on Sunday.

The defeat gave Arsenal the trophy for the 18th time in their history, with goals from Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard securing a convincing victory.

Maresca, in his first official match as Manchester City manager after succeeding Pep Guardiola, said his side had been badly affected by conceding after only 25 seconds.

“I think the goal we conceded after 25 seconds unfortunately affected the game at that moment,” Maresca told BBC 5 Live.

“I think our reaction was good before the second goal, because we had three or four chances to score and equalise, but unfortunately we conceded the second goal, which made things more complicated.”

The Italian said the margins between teams in matches of this nature are small, making an early setback particularly damaging.

“I am disappointed with that because the level of the teams in this kind of game is very similar and, when you concede a goal, it becomes difficult,” he added.

“But I think the performance after the first goal was very good. We created chances, but again, at 2-0, it was more complicated.”

Manchester City were unable to turn their opportunities into goals before Arsenal extended their advantage. The second goal left Maresca’s team facing a much tougher task, while Arsenal went on to complete a comfortable win with a third goal from Odegaard.

Maresca acknowledged that there were problems for his team to address, but insisted the Community Shield was only the beginning of his time in charge.

“There is something wrong, but it is just the beginning,” he said. “We will start the Premier League next Sunday and then the focus has to be on that.”

The match was Maresca’s first competitive fixture since taking over from Guardiola, who left Manchester City at the end of last season.

Although the result gave Arsenal an early piece of silverware, Maresca said the defeat should be viewed in the context of a season that has only just started. He also stressed that improvement would be required regardless of whether City were winning or losing matches.

“We have a lot of things to work on,” he said. “The season has just started, so there are many things we need to improve, but even when we win games, there are things we need to improve.”