Aaron Ramsdale makes his case to remain first choice – as Arsenal make their own one for major trophies

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free

Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter

Thanks for signing up to the
Football email

Perhaps David Raya would have saved it. It was a tame penalty, after all. But Aaron Ramsdale did save it, diving to his right, blocking Julian Alvarez’s lacklustre effort, punching the air, just as he had when Kevin de Bruyne thumped the underside of the bar with his spot kick.

Whichever, it amounted to a response from Ramsdale. A seeming success story of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, the goalkeeper signed from relegated Sheffield United, who signed him from relegated Bournemouth, who seemed the spirit animal of a young, hungry side who went on to top the table for 248 days. And who, then, suddenly, brutally, seemed undermined when it emerged Arsenal were bidding for Brentford’s Raya.

But Ramsdale brings character. The sense is that he will not surrender his position without a fight, even if the Gunners do land Raya or another potential No.1. A Community Shield triumph and a third trophy of Arteta’s reign came courtesy of two of his saves. The first, stopping Phil Foden from doubling Manchester City’s lead, had a hint of fortune, the ball striking the inside of his leg and then rolling past the post.

Fortune may have favoured Arsenal again with the goal that secured a shootout. The 101st-minute strike may become a more frequent phenomenon as the amount of added time mushrooms this season. Two months earlier, City won the Champions League in part because of a save deep into added time; when another trophy beckoned and still later, Stefan Ortega was wrongfooted when Leandro Trossard’s shot took a huge deflection off Manuel Akanji.

And then Martin Odegaard, Trossard and Bukayo Saka – who had missed in a more famous shootout at Wembley two years earlier – found the net from 12 yards. De Bruyne’s miss and Ramsdale’s save afforded Fabio Vieira the chance to win it: his namesake, Patrick, had decided a shootout against a Manchester club in the 2005 FA Cup final and history repeated itself.

Recommended

At the end of it, Arteta had just a second win in ten managerial meetings with Guardiola: on penalties, with the aid of added time and deflections, but after losing three previous games in 2023 and eight in all, any victory was welcome.

He may feel he had found a method, too. Kai Havertz has been bought to play as a free eight for Arsenal but his debut came as a false nine, the role in which he frequently flattered to deceive at Chelsea. It was the product of an injury to Gabriel Jesus and a tactical ploy alike. If Arteta was camouflaging his main gameplan for the season, his signings shape the way they will probably play against lesser opponents. But not against City, who had eviscerated them 3-1 and 4-1 in games that could be billed as title deciders: that, though, was with De Bruyne and Erling Haaland in harness and when the Belgian came on, the Norwegian went off.

But Arsenal had more restraint, more patience as much of the match had the feel of a phoney war. There was a cautiousness to them, with two defensive midfielders, men behind the ball and a willingness to stand off, rather than pressing. The Arteta blueprint may entail Declan Rice operating on his own at the base of the midfield, but he had Thomas Partey for company, and Havertz debuting alone in attack.

Arsenal won the Community Shield on penalties (Nick Potts/PA)

Chances were a premium; three of different kinds fell to Champions League final scorers. Rodri tried an audacious attempt to lob Ramsdale from the half-way line: the backpedalling goalkeeper was spared embarrassment when the ball landed on the roof of the net.

Havertz, whose Champions League final goal came for Chelsea and against City, had his opportunities when Arsenal allied patience and restraint with hints of a counter-attacking menace. Ortega saved twice from Havertz after low passes from the right, with Ben White and Saka picking out the German. It continued a theme that felt all too familiar at Stamford Bridge. It was Havertz in a nutshell, the supposed generational talent with the elusiveness to earn chances and the inability to take them. The great xG underachiever scored too few goals for Chelsea, but found the net in Champions League and Club World Cup finals; perhaps the Community Shield was not a big enough occasion.

Recommended

It did, though, seem Cole Palmer’s day. The 20-year-old came on with De Bruyne and put City ahead in sumptuous style, curling a shot past Ramsdale. It earned him the player of the match award – a sign in itself of how little had happened before his arrival – but the verdict was made before Trossard, Akanji and Ramsdale’s interventions.

And so City were denied a fourth trophy in as many months and a third in as many games. With honours scarcer for Arsenal, the Community Shield probably meant more to them. And with his place at threat, it may have had an added importance to Ramsdale.

Source: Read Full Article