Group Defend 2026 report, outcome, objectives as Calafiori, Havertz and Odegaard rating in opposition to ‘concerningly poor’ Maresca crew

Riccardo Calafiori’s objective after 23 seconds set the tone as Arsenal outclassed Manchester Metropolis within the Group Defend to offer Enzo Maresca a worrying begin answerable for the Cityzens at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

Full-back Calafiori struck from Myles Lewis-Skelly’s perceptive cross earlier than Havertz headed in from new signing Christos Tzolis’ looping header 27 minutes later.

Odegaard had a shot cleared off the road by Josko Gvardiol throughout the first half however avenged that near-miss by expertly accumulating a Tzolis cross in entrance of the Croatia defender, performing a dummy to deceive goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and slotting in three minutes after the restart.

“Completely completely different class,” former Scotland ahead Ally McCoist advised TNT Sports activities of Arsenal’s third objective.

Antoine Semenyo examined David Raya late on for Metropolis however Maresca’s crew supplied little of their most significant contest for the reason that Italian changed Pep Guardiola, who ended his 10-year reign on the finish of final season.

“I’m stunned by what I’ve seen from Metropolis,” stated McCoist. “Arsenal have been glorious however Metropolis have been concerningly poor.

“There’s completely no getting away from the truth that Arsenal have completely dominated, aside from 5 minutes within the first half when Metropolis appeared a bit of bit energetic.

“The hole between the perimeters on this encounter has been as large as I’ve seen between these sides in a protracted, very long time.”

Arsenal crew vs Man Metropolis

Arsenal had been with out William Saliba, who’s dealing with an prolonged spell out after aggravating a long-term again harm throughout France’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Spain.

Jurrien Timber additionally remained sidelined with a groin downside and is known to nonetheless be some weeks from a return, though head coach Mikel Arteta has described the full-backs progress as going “very well”.

New £75 million signing Bruno Guimaraes began in midfield, with Bukayo Saka on the bench alongside Declan Rice and Viktor Gyokeres.

Arsenal beginning XI: David Raya, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, Cristhian Mosquera, Riccardo Calafiori, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Bruno Guimaraes, Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Christos Tzolis, Kai Havertz

Arsenal substitutes: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Piero Hincapie, Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Max Dowman, Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres

Man Metropolis crew vs Arsenal

Winger Savinho and midfielder Rodri missed out via harm for Metropolis, with £117 million report signing Elliot Anderson in midfield and Erling Haaland main the road.

Jack Grealish was among the many substitutes.

Manchester Metropolis beginning XI: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Abdukodir Khusanov, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nico O’Reilly, Mateo Kovacic, Claudio Echeverri, Phil Foden, Antoine Semenyo, Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku

Manchester Metropolis substitutes: Geronimo Rulli, Marc Guehi, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki, Nico Gonzalez, Jack Grealish, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Matheus Nunes, Rico Lewis

• Arteta has gained all 5 of his Group Defend matches (two as a participant, three as a supervisor) and is answerable for a membership who’ve lifted the trophy 18 instances, behind solely Manchester United (21)
• Arsenal have gained all 5 of their Group Defend matches in opposition to Metropolis, beforehand beating them 4-0 in 1934, 3-0 in 2014 and 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 attract 2023
• On the previous 10 events when the sport had been between the league champions and the FA Cup winners, the FA Cup holders had gained eight instances
• Calafiori’s objective was the primary scored within the opening minute of the Group Defend since Bobby Owen for Metropolis in opposition to West Bromwich Albion in 1968, resulting in a 6-1 win for his aspect on the membership’s former residence of Maine Street
• The Gunners performed on the Millennium Stadium extra instances than some other aspect (10) when it was first used between 2001 and 2007.
• Maresca was the Metropolis supervisor to take cost of his opening sport within the Group Defend, with Maurizio Sarri the final top-flight head coach whose first sport got here on this stage, overseeing a 2-0 Chelsea defeat to Metropolis in August 2018
• Metropolis beat United on penalties of their earlier Group Defend look in 2024, though solely their Manchester rivals (10) have been runners-up within the sport as many instances as Metropolis (10)
• Their solely earlier match on the Millennium Stadium was a 3-0 win over TNS in August 2003 in a UEFA Cup – now the Europa League – qualifying match
• They misplaced one among their final 12 matches in all competitions (W9 D2) in 2025/26 – a 2-1 league residence defeat to Aston Villa of their last sport of the marketing campaign with the title out of attain
• Haaland was making his first look for Metropolis for the reason that 2025/26 season, having missed their pre-season fixtures following his return from serving to Norway attain the World Cup quarter-finals