Community Shield: Inside Arsenal’s Penalty Tricks That Helped Them Gain An Edge Over Man City

• Arsenal players exhibited a great sense of calm and composure as they took their penalties against Manchester City
• Pep Guardiola's side lost the Community Shield after scoring only one of their penalties
• Success in penalty shootouts is never guaranteed, no matter how well you prepare

Post-match penalties in football are usually anyone's game. It is the one aspect of the game where it doesn't matter how well-prepared you are or what kind of stars you have at your disposal. It is always down to withholding pressure and a little bit of luck.

Social media is still abuzz with the two crazy penalty shootouts witnessed at the FIFA Women's World Cup, with Sweden and England sneaking through to the quarterfinals by the skins of their teeth.

On August 6, after USA goalkeeper, Alyssa Naeher had agonizingly come close to saving Lina Hurtig's game-winning penalty, it was the turn of Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale and Manchester City's Stefan Ortega to win the Community Shield for their teams.

Why selling Thomas Partey could be a major mistake after masterclass display against Barca

Football

The Gunners had just managed to force the game to the shootouts after a Leandro Trossard shot wickedly deflected off Manuel Akanji.

Community Shield penalties

What followed was the five apiece spot kicks each team had, with Mikel Arteta finally overcoming the 'mental block' to win against his former boss, Pep Guardiola.

So, how did it happen? As mentioned before, penalties are often a stroke of luck. It doesn't matter how good your record is - just ask Harry Kane how he felt after he skied the penalty that technically eliminated England from the 2022 World Cup.

But Arsenal players, the four who stepped up to take the penalties, appeared to have a pattern. If it was two players, one could pass it off as a coincidence. But all four players repeating the same 'trick'? It appeared rehearsed - straight from the training ground.

Average time spent before taking penalty

Issues Chelsea, Man United and other top six clubs must address before start of new season

Football

Martin Odegaard led from the front by taking the first penalty. The skipper sent Ortega the wrong way to give Arsenal an early advantage. After the whistle had gone, Odegaard waited for approximately 6.20 seconds before hitting the ball.

Kevin De Bruyne prodded forward, looking to restore parity. The Belgian slammed his effort on the crossbar as it ricocheted back to him. He waited for 1.11 seconds after the whistle had gone to take the penalty.

The script sort of repeated itself, Arsenal players taking their sweet time while Manchester City players hitting it almost immediately, Stuart Atwell sounded the whistle.

Leandro Trossard waited for 7.41 seconds, Bukayo Saka for 7.34 seconds and Fabio Viera, the match-winning penalty, for 7.25 seconds.

City meanwhile had Bernardo Silva at 1.11 seconds and Rodri, a tame effort which was saved, at 1.34 seconds.

So technically, as captured by @afcjxmes, Arsenal's wait time averaged 7.05 seconds while City's stood at 1.19 seconds.

Fans slam USA First Lady, Jill Biden after ironic post on Women's World Cup game

Football

Psychological battle

The conclusion herein would be the more time Arsenal used, the better the penalty takers settled their nerves, wallowing them to remain focussed and avoid any possibilities of hurried takes which could result in misses.

Geir Jordet, a Professor of Sports Sciences, marvelled at the wait time exhibited by Arteta's players, pointing out that the penalties are often a psychological battle.

"Rare to see a team approach penalties so deliberately, controlled and composed as Arsenal did. This never guarantees success, but it suggests a collective plan to actively control oneself under stress."

The narrative holds water, given that it worked out for Arsenal. It would be interesting to see how they approach their subsequent shoot outs or even their in-game penalties this season. Saka missed a couple of important penalties in the run-in last season.

If this was indeed a ploy from the training session, Arteta would be happy that it finally got him one over Guardiola. After all, whatever works for you, right?

Man City brace for Arsenal assault in Community Shield

Football

Arsenal facing Community Shield curse

Earlier, Sports Brief reported Arsenal are facing a major Premier League title curse following their Community Shield triumph on Sunday, August 6.

Many Arsenal fans will be hoping that their Community Shield triumph will catapult them into Premier League glory next season.

However, this may not be the case going by the history of previous winners of the trophy.