English football is back as Arsenal defeat Chelsea in season's curtain-raiser

[caption id=“attachment_2376196” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Football is back in England! In the annual curtain raiser for the English season, Premier League champions Chelsea took on FA Cup winners Arsenal for the Community Shield a Wembley. AP Photo[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_2376204” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin, left, vies for the ball with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. Hazard and Chelsea, who have had one less week of preparation than Arsenal were understandably rusty in the attacking third of the pitch. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_2376206” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain celebrates scoring what proved to be a match-winning goal. The English winger unleashed a powerful left-footed drive cutting in from the right flank. Arsenal were rewarded for having the early momentum with the all-important first goal. AP Photo[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_2376198” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Eden Hazard, who looked like Chelsea’s most likely goal threat (no surprises there) had a golden chance to put Chelsea on level terms but fired it high and wide with Laurent Koscielny (R) putting him under pressure. AP Photo[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_2376200” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Radamel Falcao had a game to forget and so did Loic Remy (who started at CF in the absence of Diego Costa) Mertesacker and Kocielny dealt with the aerial threat of the Colombianstriker with ease. AP Photo[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_2376194” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Arsenal’s captain on the day Per Mertesacker and club captain Mikel Arteta celebrate after winning the English Community Shield for the second season running. AP Photo.[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_2376210” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Celebrations in Wembley. Incidentally, this was Arsene Wenger’s (seen in the photo) first ever competitive win over Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho. AP Photo[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_2376208” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Happy team! That’s now four finals in Wembley in the last two years and four wins for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger - two FA Cup finals and two Community Shields. AP Photo.[/caption]