2014 FA Community Shield
The 2014 FA Community Shield was the 92nd FA Community Shield, an annual English football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup. The game was played between Arsenal, who beat Hull City in the final of the 2013–14 FA Cup, and Manchester City, champions of the 2013–14 Premier League.
Manchester United were the defending champions as winners of the 2013 FA Community Shield, but did not qualify for this edition, as they finished seventh in the Premier League and got knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round.
This was Arsenal's 20th Community Shield appearance and Manchester City's 10th. The only time the two teams previously met in the Shield was in 1934, when Arsenal won 4-0. The 2014 staging of the event was the first to use vanishing spray, following its success at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In the lead up to the match Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini defended his club's transfer recruitment, after it was questioned by the Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.
Alexis Sánchez was one of three players who made their competitive debuts for Arsenal in the match; for Manchester City, goalkeeper Willy Caballero was selected ahead of Joe Hart. Arsenal began the game more strongly and took the lead when Santi Cazorla scored in the 22nd minute. Their lead was extended two minutes before half time, as Aaron Ramsey finished off a counter-attacking move. Arsenal scored their third of the match soon after the hour mark; Olivier Giroud's shot from outside the penalty box dipped over Caballero and into his goal.
Watched by a crowd of 71,523 at Wembley Stadium in London, Arsenal won the match 3–0. It was the biggest win at the Community Shield in 16 years, when they defeated United, City's cross-city rivals. Wenger was pleased with his team's performance and felt the win would provide a confidence boost for the coming season. Pellegrini's reaction was indifferent; he believed the absence of several first team players was linked to their poor show.
Background
Founded in 1908 as a successor to the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, the FA Community Shield began as a contest between the respective champions of the Football League and Southern League, although in 1913 it was played between an Amateurs XI and a Professionals XI. In 1921, it was played by the league champions of the top division and FA Cup winners for the first time. As part of a sponsorship deal between The Football Association and American restaurant chain McDonald's, the match was officially referred to as "The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's".Manchester City qualified for the 2014 FA Community Shield as winners of the 2013–14 Premier League. The club saw off competition from Liverpool and won their second league title in three years with victory against West Ham United on the last day. The other Community Shield place went to Arsenal, who defeated Hull City in extra time to win the final of the 2013–14 FA Cup. It ended a run of nine years without a trophy for the club.
Manchester City made their 10th Community Shield appearance; prior to this, they won four and lost five – one of which against Arsenal in 1934. By contrast, Arsenal made their 20th Community Shield appearance, a record bettered only by Manchester United and Liverpool. Arsenal had won 12 times, 11 of which were won outright, most recently in 2004.
The match was televised live in the United Kingdom on BT Sport; the network obtained rights to the Community Shield in July 2013 as part of a four-year deal with the BBC to air live FA Cup football.
Build-up
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger used his press conference before the match to look ahead to the new season. He wanted his team to build on their FA Cup success and said that the Community Shield "...will be the best way to prepare for the start of the League season next week." Wenger was surprised his opponents Manchester City had taken midfielder Frank Lampard from their own franchise club New York City FC on loan; he questioned whether this was a way to bypass UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules. Of Bacary Sagna's move from Arsenal to Manchester City in the summer, Wenger told reporters: "I made him a proposal to stay for three years, but he chose them. Had he chosen a long time ago? Maybe – it looks to me like he agreed it a long time before." Wenger also revealed Arsenal had received offers for defender Thomas Vermaelen; on the day of the Community Shield match the player transferred to Barcelona.Manuel Pellegrini, the manager of Manchester City, said before the game that winning the Shield "would be the ideal start to the campaign." He was conscious of his team's poor start to the previous season and wanted them to do better, particularly away from home. Pellegrini did not see the game against Arsenal as a "friendly", and expected his opponents to provide a good test for Manchester City in the Shield match and thereafter in the league season. He was satisfied overall with the club's transfer activity during the summer, in particular praising goalkeeper Willy Caballero. When asked about Wenger's comments about Manchester City, he retorted: "As a manager we have enough problems with our own teams to be talking about other teams." Pellegrini expressed his belief that Lampard's transfer was not done by underhand tactics – "we didn’t spend any money in bringing him from New York City to Manchester City," and added the player was not offered a contract to remain at Chelsea.
Aaron Ramsey, who scored Arsenal's winning goal in the FA Cup final, was adamant their recent success would make his teammates determined to win more. He aimed for victory in the Community Shield, as it would provide a platform for what he described as "a tough opening couple of games in the Premier League." Samir Nasri, who left Arsenal to join Manchester City in 2011, in the lead-up to the match described the abuse he received from Arsenal supporters since his transfer as "stupid." He went on to explain: "They see it as treason or that I betrayed them but it’s not like that. I just look what’s best for me... For the fans the only reason has to be for the money. But it isn’t just for the money."
Both clubs received an allocation of approximately 26,000 tickets. Manchester City fans were housed in the east end of Wembley, while Arsenal fans occupied the west. Ticket prices stayed the same for the third consecutive year and were advertised at a cost of between £20 and £45; the tickets went on general sale for Manchester City fans on 22 July 2014. Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis was upset by the low allocation: "We have expressed our disappointment to the FA regarding the ticket allocation for both the FA Cup final and FA Community Shield."
Michael Oliver was selected as the referee for the Shield match; it marked the fifth time he refereed at Wembley Stadium. The game was the first in English football to use vanishing spray, designed to help referees mark free-kick positions. This came after the spray's success at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. English rock band Embrace provided pre-match entertainment and Britain's Got Talent finalist Lucy Kay sung the national anthem before the match commenced.
Match
Team selection
Manchester City were predicted to line up in a 4–2–3–1 formation, with Nasri and James Milner as wide men. Due to a specified pre-season programme, Pellegrini had agreed to excuse several players from the match, namely Martín Demichelis, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Fernandinho, Frank Lampard and Sergio Agüero. Striker Álvaro Negredo was also unavailable for selection because of an injury. Arsenal were expected to line up similarly to Manchester City, with Ramsey as a holding midfielder, and Tomáš Rosický in an advanced role behind Olivier Giroud. Goalkeeper David Ospina was ruled out of the game with a thigh injury; German internationals Per Mertesacker, Mesut Özil and Lukas Podolski did not feature as they were given extended time off following their national side's success at the World Cup.When the teamsheets were released, Wenger's selection showed Rosický and Giroud would start the match as substitutes and competitive debuts were given to Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and Alexis Sánchez. Arsenal employed a 4–1–4–1 formation to start the game, with a defensive midfielder sitting between a flat back four and a four-man midfield; Yaya Sanogo led the Arsenal attack as a lone centre-forward.
Manchester City organised themselves slightly differently, with two defensive midfielders and an attacking midfielder – Stevan Jovetić - playing behind the main striker, Edin Džeko. Caballero and Fernando made their debuts for the club, while Bruno Zuculini was named on the bench. The team lined up in a 4–2–3–1 formation. There were no English players in the Manchester City starting XI.