Arsenal picked up the first piece of silverware of the season by beating rivals Chelsea in a penalty shootout following an entertaining 1-1 draw at Wembley in The Community Shield.
There are still plenty of lessons to be learned from this match, despite it being so early on in the season. Both Arsene Wenger and Antonio Conte will certainly have much to ponder before the big Premier League kick-off next weekend.
1‘ABBA’ Style Shootout Was a Success
Many football supporters had their doubts when this new format for penalty shootouts was introduced. The difference between the new format and the previous one is that it now sees the team going first in the shootout take once spot-kick before their opposition then takes two in a row and so on.
The style was introduced to remove any advantage to the team stepping up first, and it certainly worked in this match. Cahill put the Blues 1-0 ahead in the shootout, but they still lost 4-1 as Arsenal successfully converted all four of their spot-kicks. It was a successful start to the new format with no notable hiccups, and it will be interesting to see whether it stays that way throughout the season.
