Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Enzo Maresca conceded Manchester City have “many things to work on” after being thrashed by Arsenal in the Community Shield.
Maresca’s first competitive game in charge of City did not go to plan as they were beaten 3-0 by the Premier League champions at the Principality Stadium.
Riccardo Calafiori opened the scoring after just 23 seconds, with Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard also getting in on the goals for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Maresca suffered the joint-heaviest defeat by a City manager in their first game in charge, with Harry Newbould in 1906 the only previous boss to lose by three or more goals (4-1 loss to Arsenal).
In fact, since the start of 2025, City have only trailed by three or more goals in a game against a Premier League side on one other occasion: a 5-1 defeat to the Gunners in February that year.
Maresca admitted Calafiori’s early goal had a big effect on his side, though he is not overly concerned ahead of the new Premier League campaign.
“I think the goal we conceded after 25 seconds unfortunately affected the game in that moment,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I think after the goal, the reaction was quite good before they scored the second one; we had three or four chances to score and draw the game, but unfortunately we conceded the second one, and it became more complicated.
“There was a mistake there, but it’s just the beginning. Then from next Sunday we start the Premier League, and the focus has to be on that.
“We have many things to work [on]. The season’s just started, so there are many things we need to do better, but even when we win games, there are things we need to do better.”
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 16, 2026
City had 12 attempts against Arsenal, getting five of those on target, but they accumulated just 0.8 expected goals (xG) from those chances.
They struggled to get the likes of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden into the game, with just one week to go until their Premier League opener against Bournemouth.
“In general, I’m always concerned – even when we win games!” he added.
“We have just started. This is the beginning. We have many things to do better. Now we will try to reset, analyse the game and think from Tuesday about the next game.”
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