2017 FA Community Shield

2017 FA Community Shield

The match programme cover
Arsenal Chelsea 1 1
Arsenal won 4–1 on penalties
Date	6 August 2017
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match	Granit Xhaka (Arsenal)
Referee	Bobby Madley (West Yorkshire)[1]
Attendance	83,325
Weather	Partly cloudy 21 °C (70 °F)[2]
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The 2017 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 95th FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. It was held at Wembley Stadium on 6 August 2017. The match was played between Chelsea, champions of the 2016–17 Premier League and Arsenal, who beat their opponents to win the 2017 FA Cup Final. Watched by a crowd of 83,325, Arsenal won the Shield 4–1 on penalties, after the match finished 1–1 after 90 minutes. The shoot-out was notable as the ABBA system was trialled for the first time in English football; the format sees teams take back-to-back penalties rather than alternating.

This was Arsenal's 22nd Shield appearance to Chelsea's 12th. For Arsenal, Alexandre Lacazette made his competitive debut, while Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott started as substitutes. Their squad did not include Alexis Sánchez, Laurent Koscielny and Mesut Özil – all absent for differing reasons. Midfielder Cesc Fàbregas started against his former team, playing alongside N'Golo Kanté. New signings Álvaro Morata, Antonio Rüdiger and Willy Caballero were all named on the bench. Striker Diego Costa was omitted from the Chelsea squad as he did not feature in manager Antonio Conte's pre-season preparations.

After a subdued first half, Chelsea took the lead in the 46th minute when Victor Moses scored. A late challenge by Pedro on Mohamed Elneny resulted in the Chelsea attacker being shown a red card; from the free-kick Arsenal were awarded, substitute Sead Kolašinac scored on his debut. As there were no further goals, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out. Thibaut Courtois and Morata missed their penalties, leaving Giroud to score the winning one.