Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, left, and Manchester City Manuel Pellegrini give instructions to their players during the FA Community Shield at Wembley stadium in London, Britain, on August 10, 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, left, and Manchester City Manuel Pellegrini give instructions to their players during the FA Community Shield at Wembley stadium in London, Britain, on August 10, 2014. Show more

Arsene Wenger says Wembley win over Man City sets tone for Arsenal



LONDON // Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger felt his side had established a benchmark for their season after a convincing 3-0 win over Premier League champions Manchester City in the Community Shield.

Substitute Olivier Giroud capped a one-sided victory with a brilliant 25-yard strike on the hour mark at Wembley on Sunday, after first-half goals from Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey had put Arsenal in control.

Arsenal’s league title bid last season was fatally undermined by losses to their biggest rivals -- including a 6-3 humbling at City -- and Wenger is hopeful that the FA Cup winners have now turned a corner.

“To win today gives us a positive platform to prepare,” the Frenchman told his post-game media conference.

“You want to win the game and you want to look at the quality of the performance as well.

“It was important for our confidence to win the game, but it was even more important to have a big part in the game with the quality.

“And that is a comfort for me to see that we can produce the kind of quality that we have produced for some long patches in the game.”

Reminded of his team’s poor record against their title rivals last season, he replied: “That’s why it was important for us today (Sunday) not to lose the game.

“Last year we were very consistent against the teams below the top six and not consistent against the top six teams. The year before it was the reverse. So let’s hope that this year it will be right on both sides.”

Wenger was particularly pleased by the performances of new signings Calum Chambers, Mathieu Debuchy and Alexis Sanchez.

He said that 19-year-old Chambers, who again played at centre-back, had been “outstanding” and described Debuchy’s display as “excellent”, while he felt that Sanchez had been “always a danger”.

Wenger also revealed that Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta has succeeded Thomas Vermaelen as club captain following the Belgian defender’s move to Barcelona, with Per Mertesacker named vice-captain.

Vermaelen’s departure leaves Arsenal light at centre-back, with Laurent Koscielny the only other established central defender on the club’s books.

But while Wenger admitted that he would like to bring in another defender, he added: “To find another one of (Vermaelen’s) quality will not be easy.”

The pain of defeat for City was softened by the fact that they were without several key first-team players, including captain Vincent Kompany, right-back Pablo Zabaleta and striker Sergio Aguero.

“It was not the day today to make pressure for different players. It was one game more for pre-season,” said manager Manuel Pellegrini.

“We have seven players who have just worked for five days. They were not considered for this game. We have another five players who have just worked for eight or nine days.

“It’s difficult to be ready in two weeks. Aguero, Zabaleta, (Martin) Demichelis, Kompany, (Bacary) Sagna, Fernandino just arrived seven days ago. They started working on Monday.

“They will have 15 days before we start the Premier League so we’ll see during the week which of them are ready and which of them are not ready.

“It is always bad to lose, but we don’t need to worry.”

City open their league title defence at Newcastle United on Sunday and Pellegrini refused to confirm that England goalkeeper Joe Hart will come back into the team after new signing Willy Caballero played against Arsenal.

“All the 22 players that we have in our squad must demonstrate who is number one in all the positions,” said the Chilean.

“The goalkeeper and the other positions of the team are exactly the same. Joe finished last season playing very well. We’ll see next Sunday which 11 starts against Newcastle.”

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Uefa Nations League: How it works

The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.

The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.

Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Day 2, Dubai Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Pakistan’s effort in the field had hints of shambles about it. The wheels were officially off when Wahab Riaz lost his run up and aborted the delivery four times in a row. He re-measured his run, jogged in for two practice goes. Then, when he was finally ready to go, he bailed out again. It was a total cringefest.

Stat of the day – 139.5 Yasir Shah has bowled 139.5 overs in three innings so far in this Test series. Judged by his returns, the workload has not withered him. He has 14 wickets so far, and became history’s first spinner to take five-wickets in an innings in five consecutive Tests. Not bad for someone whose fitness was in question before the series.

The verdict Stranger things have happened, but it is going to take something extraordinary for Pakistan to keep their undefeated record in Test series in the UAE in tact from this position. At least Shan Masood and Sami Aslam have made a positive start to the salvage effort.

Q&A with Dash Berlin

Welcome back. What was it like to return to RAK and to play for fans out here again?
It’s an amazing feeling to be back in the passionate UAE again. Seeing the fans having a great time that is what it’s all about.

You're currently touring the globe as part of your Legends of the Feels Tour. How important is it to you to include the Middle East in the schedule?
The tour is doing really well and is extensive and intensive at the same time travelling all over the globe. My Middle Eastern fans are very dear to me, it’s good to be back.

You mix tracks that people know and love, but you also have a visually impressive set too (graphics etc). Is that the secret recipe to Dash Berlin's live gigs?
People enjoying the combination of the music and visuals are the key factor in the success of the Legends Of The Feel tour 2018.

Have you had some time to explore Ras al Khaimah too? If so, what have you been up to?
Coming fresh out of Las Vegas where I continue my 7th annual year DJ residency at Marquee, I decided it was a perfect moment to catch some sun rays and enjoy the warm hospitality of Bab Al Bahr.