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Is this a "mourinho season" ?!!! Arsenal beat Chelsea to cling the shield again.

ARSENAL have beaten Chelsea in a historic Community Shield penalty shootout after the match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and star signing Alvaro Morata were the Chelsea fall guys as Arsenal won 4-1 on penalties at Wembley on Sunday. Goals from Chelsea’s Victor Moses and Arsenal new boy Sead Kolasinac sent the game to a shootout and with both Courtois and Morata limply squandering their spot-kicks, Arsenal won the trophy for the third time in four years.

For Antonio Conte, also, with Chelsea, the champions, losing and the manager cutting an unhappy figure on the touchline as he raged against a series of perceived injustices. The cracker-jack Italian said last week that he wanted to avoid a “Mourinho season” – with Jose Mourinho sacked a few short months after bringing the Premier League title back to Stamford Bridge – but it has started as one. Two years ago Mourinho lost the Community Shield. And lost it to Arsenal. By December he was gone.

That is the doomsday scenario and, of course, far, far too much can be read into this feisty game where ring-rust remained, squads need to be finalised, players were at different levels of fitness and many key performers were sat on the bench, in the stands or not even at Wembley. Maybe there were four expected starters absent apiece with Arsenal missing Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey – both injury doubts also for the first league match at home to Leicester City this Friday – Laurent Koscielny and wantaway Alexis Sanchez, who donned his shades and, nevertheless, joined in the cavorting at the end.

Chelsea were also depleted. No Diego Costa, on his extended holiday/exile until he leaves, Eden Hazard, of course, nor Tiemoue Bakayoko while both Alvaro Morata and Antonio Rudiger started on the bench. Both came on – and both made inauspicious starts with Morata, the record signing for a fee of up to £70 million, missing the target completely from the spot in the shoot-out, as did goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, while Rudiger was caught out as Arsenal forced the late equaliser. Chelsea’s sense of angst was heightened by the identity of the scorer: Sead Kolasinac who they tried to sign themselves only last January. The Bosnian on a Bosman from Schalke looks like a good acquisition for Arsenal.
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