Four interesting statistics to surface as Arsenal beat Chelsea on penalties in the Community Shield

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The first piece of silverware of the new season went Arsenal’s way on Sunday afternoon as Arsene Wenger’s side continued their recent run of form at Wembley Stadium to beat Chelsea on penalties in the Community Shield.

In a re-match of the thrilling FA Cup final from just a few months ago, Arsenal – who gave new record signing Alexandre Lacazette his competitive debut – were much faster out of the blocks than their London rivals, with their £46.5 million man striking the woodwork inside half an hour through a curling effort.

But it was Chelsea who took the lead just moments after the break when Victor Moses gambled on Gary Cahill’s guided header to finish past Petr Cech and give the Premier League champions the lead.

It looked like the Blues were heading for victory until the game turned on its head within the space of two minutes, with Pedro first being shown a straight red card for a lunge on Mohamed Elneny before, from the resulting free-kick, debutant Sead Kolasinac lost his man and leapt highest to head into the corner.

And, in a penalty shoot-out trialling the new ABBA system, misses from Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and new arrival Alvaro Morata proved costly as the Gunners lifted the shield for a 14^th time.

The Boot Room takes a look at four interesting statistics to surface from Arsenal’s victory…

82 – Pedro’s meltdown proves costly

It’s fair to say that the entire course of the match on Sunday afternoon was altered in a very rare moment of madness from Chelsea’s midfield wizard, and arguably the unlikeliest of sources, Pedro.

Perhaps due to frustration at not having much time on the ball throughout the game up to that point, he lunged in recklessly at the heel of Mohamed Elneny and was understandably shown a red.

And just 82 seconds after being given his marching orders the Gunners capitalised on the resulting set-piece, with new boy Kolasinac meeting Granit Xhaka’s delicate cross to secure a deserved equaliser.

9 – ‘Can we play here every week?’

It seems like Arsene Wenger is starting to develop a love affair with Wembley Stadium after the success that he’s had there recently, and for the second time in three months he was celebrating.

Victory over arch-rivals Chelsea is the ninth consecutive match that the Gunners have won at the national stadium, a quite staggering record that dates back to their FA Cup semi-final back in 2014.

Although it’s still essentially a pre-season game, and neither side were at full strength, it still shows that this current crop of Arsenal players know what it takes to be winners on the biggest domestic stage.

98 – Could this be the season for Xhaka?

A lot has been said about whether Granit Xhaka has what it takes to play for Arsenal in one of the biggest leagues in the world but on Sunday afternoon he certainly silenced his critics with his display.

Sitting deep in the Arsenal midfield he put on a masterclass of excellent decision-making, intricate passing and disciplined defensive work, playing like the player Wenger has always tipped him to be.

He literally didn’t put a foot wrong all afternoon, completing 100% of his 98 passes, and it was his lovely weighted cross that put it on a plate for Kolasinac late on; could this be the season he finally excels?

16 – Debutant Morata not ready yet

It perhaps came as a surprise that, after all of the money thrown around in the Premier League to date in the summer transfer window, there was only one debutant named in either starting eleven.

It took until the 74^th minute for Chelsea boss Antonio Conte to award their new £60 million striker Alvaro Morata time on the pitch but, in the 16 minutes that followed, he showed that he’s not ready yet.

He saw very little of the ball and, when he did get a half-chance, he wasn’t sharp enough to anticipate Willian’s excellent pass and instead just blazed wide; after Conte’s comments pre-match that it will take time to be physically ready, it seems that Michy Batshuayi will get the nod on Saturday against Burnley.