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The 2015 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
for sponsorship reasons) was the 93rd FA Community Shield, an annual English football match played between the winners of the previous season's
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
and
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
. The match was contested by Arsenal, the 2014–15 FA Cup winners, and
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, champions of the
2014–15 Premier League The 2014–15 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...
. It was held at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
on 2 August 2015. Watched by a crowd of 85,437 and a television audience of over a million, Arsenal won the match 1–0. This was Arsenal's 21st Shield appearance and Chelsea's 11th.
Petr Čech Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as ...
made his competitive debut for Arsenal against his former team, while captain
Mikel Arteta Mikel Arteta Amatriain (born 26 March 1982) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of club Arsenal. Arteta began his senior career at Barcelona in 1999 but limited playing time led to a loan to Paris ...
and striker
Olivier Giroud Olivier Jonathan Giroud (born 30 September 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the France national team. Regarded for his work-rate, strength, acrobatic strikes, shot power, consistent goal-s ...
were named as substitutes.
Gary Cahill Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth system in Derbyshire. In 2000, he joined the Aston Villa Academy an ...
was passed fit to start for Chelsea alongside captain
John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the a ...
, and
Loïc Rémy Loïc Alex Teliére Hubert Rémy (born 2 January 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Brest. Rémy began his career playing for a local youth club in his home city of Lyon, before joining the bigge ...
started up-front as
Diego Costa Diego da Silva Costa (, ; born 7 October 1988), commonly known as Diego Costa, is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Spain national team. Costa began his football care ...
was absent. The only goal of the match came near the midway point of the first half;
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Alexander Mark David Oxlade-Chamberlain (born 15 August 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool. After rising to prominence with Southampton during the 2010–11 season aged 17, Oxlade-Chambe ...
collected a pass from
Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Southampton and previously for the English national team. Walcott is a product of the Southampton Academy and started his career with ...
from the right and scored past
Thibaut Courtois Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (born 11 May 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the best goalkeepers in world football. Courto ...
. Both managers did not shake hands after the game, which drew media attention. Arsenal's victory was their first against Chelsea in over three years and manager Arsène Wenger's first over José Mourinho in 14 attempts.


Background and pre-match

The FA Community Shield was founded in 1908 as a successor to the
Sheriff of London Charity Shield The Sheriff of London Charity Shield, also known as the Dewar Shield, was a football competition played annually between the best amateur and best professional club in England, though Scottish amateur side Queens Park also took part in 1899. The ...
, and 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 The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
winners for the first time.
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
qualified for the 2015 FA Community Shield as winners of the
2014–15 Premier League The 2014–15 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...
. It was the club's fourth league title in ten years and third under the management of José Mourinho. The other Community Shield place went to Arsenal, who defeated Aston Villa by four goals to win the
2015 FA Cup Final The 2015 FA Cup Final was an association football match played between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium, London, on 30 May 2015. Organised by the Football Association (FA), it was the 134th final of the Football Association Challeng ...
and retain the trophy. In doing so, Arsenal had overtaken Manchester United to become the most successful club in the competition's history, with 12 titles. Chelsea made their eleventh appearance in the Community Shield; prior to this they won four (
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...
,
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
, 2005, 2009) and lost six, most recently in
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
against Manchester City. By contrast, Arsenal made their 21st Community Shield appearance, and won 13, including one shared in
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
. They went into the match as holders of the Shield, having defeated Manchester City a year earlier. Both clubs had only once met before in the Shield, when Chelsea won by two goals to one in 2005. Arsenal had failed to beat Chelsea in all competitions since 2011, and Mourinho was undefeated against his opponent Arsène Wenger in 13 matches. Mourinho told reporters a winless run was something he would not tolerate: “I would try to answer, not because of a mental block but because I would want to try to find solutions to help my team to do it – try to find a different way, try to find the reasons why it goes all the time against my team." He also attempted to play down the significance of the match, given Arsenal had won the previous year's contest but finished third in the league. The match was televised live in the United Kingdom on BT Sport 2; the network obtained rights to the Community Shield in July 2013 and were into their second year of a deal with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and the FA. The game was also the inaugural broadcast of BT Sport's
4K ultra HD Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) today includes 4K UHD and 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an aspect ratio of 16:9. These were first proposed by ...
feed.


Match


Team selection

Chelsea were predicted to line up in a 4–2–3–1 formation, with Willian and
Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered o ...
as wide men. Mourinho doubted the fitness of
Diego Costa Diego da Silva Costa (, ; born 7 October 1988), commonly known as Diego Costa, is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Spain national team. Costa began his football care ...
and
Gary Cahill Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth system in Derbyshire. In 2000, he joined the Aston Villa Academy an ...
going into the match – the former aggravated his hamstring during a pre-season game against
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. Arsenal were expected to line up similarly to Chelsea, with Walcott furthest forward and Mesut Özil in his preferred position as playmaker. Midfielder
Jack Wilshere Jack Andrew Garry Wilshere (born 1 January 1992) is an English football coach and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of the Arsenal U18s. Wilshere came up through Arsenal's youth academy and i ...
was ruled out of selection, having sustained an ankle injury during training. Arsenal's top scorer of the previous season,
Alexis Sánchez Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (; born 19 December 1988), also known mononymously as Alexis, is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Chile national team. He is often lauded as the g ...
, was rested, having won the
2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...
with
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
earlier in the summer. The teamsheets showed
Loïc Rémy Loïc Alex Teliére Hubert Rémy (born 2 January 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Brest. Rémy began his career playing for a local youth club in his home city of Lyon, before joining the bigge ...
starting the match for Chelsea up front and
Cesc Fàbregas Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como. Fàbregas came through ''La Masia'', Barcelona's youth academy, leaving at 16 when ...
partnering Matic in midfield. As expected
Petr Čech Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as ...
started in goal for Arsenal; the goalkeeper moved from Chelsea in search of first-team football.


Summary


First half

Chelsea, in their usual home strip of blue, kicked off the match and immediately lost possession when Walcott dispossessed Matic. Walcott sent the ball to
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Alexander Mark David Oxlade-Chamberlain (born 15 August 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool. After rising to prominence with Southampton during the 2010–11 season aged 17, Oxlade-Chambe ...
, whose cross on the right forced a punch from
Thibaut Courtois Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (born 11 May 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Belgium national team. He is considered one of the best goalkeepers in world football. Courto ...
.
Francis Coquelin Francis Joseph Coquelin (; born 13 May 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Spanish club Villarreal. He has also featured for Valencia, Arsenal, Lorient, SC Freiburg and Charlton Athletic in his care ...
conceded a free kick in the sixth minute having fouled Willian inside Chelsea's half, though nothing came of the set piece. Fàbregas went down under the challenge of
Per Mertesacker Per Mertesacker (; born 29 September 1984) is a German football coach and former professional player who played as a centre back. He is the current manager of the Arsenal Academy. Mertesacker began his senior career after being promoted from th ...
in Arsenal's penalty area soon afterwards, but his appeal for a penalty kick was turned down by referee Anthony Taylor and play resumed. Chelsea, having settled the slower of the two teams, began to dominate ball possession and won two early corners, both of which were easily dealt with. In the 17th minute,
Nacho Monreal Ignacio "Nacho" Monreal Eraso ( or ; born 26 February 1986) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back or centre-back. He started playing with Osasuna in 2005, going on to appear in 144 official games over the cou ...
's charge forward was stopped by Cahill; the Chelsea defender in the process of making that challenge had suffered a nose bleed. A free kick for Arsenal presented a chance for Walcott to score, but his header goalwards was saved. Arsenal scored the game's only goal in the 24th minute; set-up by Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain managed to cut inside
César Azpilicueta César Azpilicueta Tanco (born 28 August 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Chelsea and the Spain national team. A youth product of Osasuna, Azpilicueta spent three seasons in La Liga before switchin ...
on the right and shoot the ball into the top-left corner of Courtois's net. It was the first goal Chelsea had conceded against Arsenal in 506 minutes. Most of the action in the first half was conducted in a congested midfield, with Fàbregas attempting to sedate the rhythm and the Arsenal midfielders forcing their opponents to play narrow. This favoured Arsenal, who had space to counter-attack had Chelsea lost the ball.
Ramires Ramires Santos do Nascimento (; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-b ...
nearly levelled the scoreline in the 33rd minute, but his curling effort failed to creep into the bottom right-hand corner. Ramires then missed another chance, heading the ball high and over the Arsenal goal after good work by Rémy. Arsenal created another chance to score four minutes before the break, when Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross found Monreal, who under pressure from Ivanovic headed over. Rémy, often a lone figure upfront, was ruled offside late on.


Second half

Radamel Falcao replaced Rémy after the break and his long-range shot in the 48th minute was blocked. Although Chelsea started the half well, it was Arsenal who fashioned the notable chances before the hour mark. In the 50th minute
Santi Cazorla Santiago "Santi" Cazorla González (; born 13 December 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer. A former Spanish international, Cazorla operated primarily as an attacking midfielder, but also played as a winger, central midfielder or as a ...
attempted to thread the ball through Chelsea's defence for Walcott to reach but his pass was cleared. Two minutes later Coquelin over-hit his pass which was directed to Özil, who roamed freely. Chelsea made another change, this time
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
in place of Ramires in the 53rd minute. Seven minutes later Chelsea came close to scoring when
Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered o ...
managed to evade his markers, but through on goal failed to get his shot on target, hitting over. Azpilicueta was shown the game's first yellow card for pulling Oxlade-Chamberlain back; Mourinho made the decision to substitute him with Kurt Zouma in the 69th minute. Giroud came on for Walcott moments before, and immediately was involved in the action, shooting high and then from long range. Coquelin then was booked for his foul on Oscar, which earned Chelsea a free kick. Oscar's attempt was saved by Čech, who fisted the ball round the post. Chelsea continued to attack, though Arsenal withstood their pressure.
John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the a ...
rose highest from a corner in the 74th minute and headed the ball in Zouma's direction, which eventually was caught by Čech. Hazard's shot was blocked in the 79th minute and Oscar then spurned a chance, with Falcao unable to create something from it. In an effort to find an equaliser with ten minutes of normal time remaining, Mourinho brought on Moses in place of Terry and deployed a three-man defence. It nearly presented Arsenal the chance to score their second of the match, but for Cazorla to have his effort blocked and
Aaron Ramsey Aaron James Ramsey (born 26 December 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nice and the Wales national team. Ramsey mainly plays as a box-to-box midfielder, but has also been deployed on the left ...
on the rebound shooting wide.


Details


Statistics


Post-match

Wenger and Mourinho did not shake hands after the final whistle; Mourinho congratulated Arsenal's players as they descended the Wembley steps upon lifting the Shield, but the Arsenal manager appeared to avoid his Chelsea counterpart after he had collected his winner's medal. In a post-match interview, Mourinho credited Arsenal's defensive approach and organisation, but felt "the best team lost", arguing that Chelsea created more chances and showed more initiative. He went on to suggest that Arsenal betrayed their attacking philosophy, choosing to adopt a counterattacking approach. Although Wenger agreed his team were set-up cautiously, he denied they abandoned their playing style: "...we defend our game on togetherness and solidarity and on defending well and attacking well." The Arsenal manager felt victory against Chelsea acted as a physiological boost for his players going into the new season, but was indifferent to his own record of beating Mourinho for the first time. Terry was disappointed with the result, observing "No matter if it’s a friendly or a Community Shield, it’s a trophy at the end of the day," but sought positives – focusing on how the players' fitness levels were rising in time for the new season. Mertesacker was delighted with his team's performance, describing it as the peak of their pre-season preparations. Both managers criticised the quality of the pitch; Mourinho remarked that it "was a disaster... so bad and so slow." An FA spokesperson said: "We will continue to improve the quality of the pitch, which we have every confidence in. In this instance it is simply that the pitch is less mature than we would ordinarily wish given the summer concert season and the early start to the football calendar." An average of 821,000 viewers watched the match live on BT Sport 2; the channel's coverage peaked at 1.2 million (11.5% of the audience share) from 16:40. Highlights on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
later that evening attracted 2.1 million viewers (17%).


See also

*
2015–16 Premier League The 2015–16 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...
*
2015–16 FA Cup The 2015–16 FA Cup (also known as the FA Challenge Cup) was the 135th edition of the oldest recognised association football, football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates (airline), Emirates, and known as The Emirates FA Cup fo ...
*
Arsenal F.C.–Chelsea F.C. rivalry The Arsenal F.C.–Chelsea F.C. rivalry is a rivalry between London-based professional association football clubs Arsenal Football Club and Chelsea Football Club. Arsenal play their home games at the Emirates Stadium, while Chelsea play their ho ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* * *


External links

*
The Community Shield
at
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
{{Chelsea F.C. matches 2015 Charity Shield 2015 Charity Shield 2015 Community Shield Community Shield Events at Wembley Stadium Community Shield