Mikel Arteta hailed Kai Havertz’s ‘superb’ performance in Arsenal’s victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.
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Cole Palmer put Pep Guardiola’s side in front in the 77th minute but Leandro Trossard’s deflected strike in the closing stages of injury time forced a penalty shootout.
Kevin de Bruyne struck his effort against crossbar before Rodri had his shot saved by Aaron Ramsdale, which then allowed Fabio Vieira to step up and find the top corner to secure the trophy for Arsenal.
Havertz, meanwhile, spearheaded Arsenal’s attack in the absence of Gabriel Jesus, who will miss the start of the season due to injury, and Arteta was impressed with the performance of his £65 million summer signing.
‘He was superb,’ Arteta said when asked about Havertz’s display against City.
‘The way he pressed and how intelligent he is to try and understand certain spaces and the timing of it, he was great and got in great positions to score.
‘He was unlucky not to score but he was very physical when he needed to be, so I was very pleased with him.’
Arteta was also given a yellow card for straying outside of his technical area, an offence which Premier League officials are looking to clamp down on this season.
‘I just said, ‘listen, I cannot change my behaviour in three days’,’ Arteta said.
‘It’s a very difficult thing to do.
‘We try our best, I try my best, I understand the rules, I understand where they are coming from, but we can get frustrated because sometimes we don’t understand what part of the technical area we are in, but it’s fine, we will adapt.’
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