"Haaland absent 3 finals in a row" "Sextuple is on" - Twitter explodes as Arsenal beat Manchester City on penalties to win 2023 FA Community Shield

Arsenal defeated Manchester City on penalties (4-1) in the gripping clash for the Community Shield trophy at Wembley on Sunday, August 8.

Both sides were vying for dominance in the first half, but couldn't find a way to break the deadlock. Kai Havertz's relentless efforts to breach Stefan Ortega's goal were thwarted by the vigilant City goalkeeper. The Cityzens, on the other hand, didn't manage a single shot on target in the first half.

The second half started in similar fashion, but ignited into a blaze of excitement when Cole Palmer's stunning 77th-minute strike sent the City faithful into rapturous celebrations.

Arsenal's hero of the day was Leandro Trossard. In the 11th minute of injury time, his shot took a fateful deflection off Manuel Akanji and found the back of the net.

During the penalty shootout, Martin Odegaard, Trossard, Bukayo Saka, and Fabio Vieira all kept their nerve for the Gunners. For Manchester City, Bernardo Silva took the only successful spot-kick as Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri fluffed their lines.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Mikel Arteta's men securing the win after a hard-fought 90-minute draw against Manchester City:

Haaland was absent in 3 finals now. Yes, he’s a prolific scorer but there’s no way you can convince he’s worthy of the Ballon d’Or

This one is for LEO MESSI 🇦🇷🐐 pic.twitter.com/nFkMFEN9b1

Erling Haaland accumulated 0.00(xG) against Arsenal today.

No sextuple for Manchester City as they lost against Arsenal in Community Shield. It remains a record for FC Barcelona and FC Bayern.

Arsenal 23/24 Season:

🏆 Emirates Cup
🏆 Community Shield
🔜 FA Cup
🔜 Carabao Cup
🔜 Champions League
🔜 Premier League

The sextuple is STILL ON! 😳

THE SEXTUPLE IS ONNNNN 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/qC05AbFwJ8

KdB single handedly stopped the sextuple charge
pic.twitter.com/r93NzSJae9

Arsenal rendered Haaland so impotent he might need Viagra to play again.

Haaland couldn't care less about the Community Shield.

It has to be respected.

Haaland flexing how many touches he had in the UCL final pic.twitter.com/RFOGHFTDzb

Erling Haaland anytime he's team needs him the most 🥹 pic.twitter.com/pLPDTmqcFh

Everybody has forgotten about Haaland for Ballon Dor 😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/6ri7CNSpE8

Arteta and Arsenal celebrating a win in a friendly match like they won a trophy, how the mighty has fallen. pic.twitter.com/2Lvn8SSAuR

@Arsenal Arteta playing chess with those pre-season shootouts

The shield is ours.

This victory was all about getting the win over Manchester City. Break that mental barrier before the season starts.

Arteta finally gets the better of Pep 💫 pic.twitter.com/ANpp5jYZto

kdb miss , haaland stinker , saliba and timber masterclass , ramsdale pen save , trossard equaliser, odegard owning kovacic , pep's bald head garnnn , fabio viera winner OMGGG pic.twitter.com/wDVR6lHxyk

Just remembered the last time City lost the community shield with Haaland having a stinker they won the treble pic.twitter.com/1szPPmQQCz

@Arsenal Didn't know Rice was playing. Went missing

Arsenal players are so naive. Look at city players espc rodri. Always stop the play without getting cards

Arsenal's triumph awaits: Mikael Silvestre predicts Manchester City to miss out on Premier League title

Former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre has revealed his bold prediction that Arsenal, rather than Manchester City, will seize the Premier League crown this season. Speaking to Betting Expert, the former Red Devils defender claimed that the Cityzens will not make the top two:

“Arsenal will finish first. Second, Manchester United. Third is Manchester City and fourth will be Liverpool.”

Having held the reins of the league table for a staggering 248 days in the previous campaign, the Gunners stumbled in the crucial part of the campaign and surrendered the title to City. However, Silvestre believes that won't stop them this time, as he said:

“The fact that Arsenal were challenging last season was a surprise to everyone and even to themselves. Now that they’ve done that with consistency, being in the first spot for so long, they clearly are title challengers this season. They’ll go for it and they should.”

The Gunners have bolstered their ranks with marquee signings like Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, and Jurrien Timber, adding potency to an already formidable roster.

Manchester City have replaced the outgoing Ilkay Gundogan with Mateo Kovacic and have signed Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig. It will be interesting to see who wins the 2023-24 Premier League.