"Must be favourites for the league now" - Manchester City star Erling Haaland's father makes sarcastic claim as Arsenal win the Community Shield

Manchester City star Erling Haaland's father, Alfie, took a sarcastic dig at Arsenal following their Community Shield win on Sunday, August 6.

The Gunners came from a goal down to defeat Manchester City in penalties at Wembley Stadium to clinch their 17th Community Shield. After Cole Palmer's curling effort in the 77th minute put the Premier League champions ahead, Leandro Trossard's deflected effort in the dying minutes of the second half took the match into a penalty shootout.

With Kevin de Bruyne hitting the crossbar and Aaron Ramsdale saving Rodri's effort, Fabion Vieria made no mistakes from the spot to cap off a dramatic comeback and see Arsenal start the season with silverware under their belt.

Erling Haaland did not have a huge impact on the proceedings and was withdrawn after a little more than an hour, replaced by eventual goalscorer Palmer. After the match, a social media account joked about how Haaland was equally ineffective in the Community Shield last season but came to life during the season and fired his team to the treble.

Haaland's father, Alfie, reshared that post and sarcastically stated that Arsenal might be favorites to win the Premier League this season.

"Well done Arsenal, great win. You must be favourites for the league now," he tweeted.

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"We were close and we are a little bit disappointed but it’s football" - Pep Guardiola on Manchester City's Community Shield defeat

Despite the defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield, Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola praised his players for their efforts. He stated that they were the better side for large parts of the contest, especially in the second half.

"We were close. We were good for 25-30 minutes, in the last 15 or 20 minutes of the first half they were better. They had two chances and Stefan did well. But second half we were much, much better. We played a really good second half. Our energy from the new players especially players in one-on-one situations, players like Phil, Kevin and Cole," he said. (via mancity.com)

Guardiola further said that the Premier League had a demanding schedule and the gap between two seasons is small, unlike the NBA. He expressed his satisfaction with how his players performed in a demanding match, before stating his disappointment with the result.

"The team behaved unbelievably. In the second half, the last minutes, attacking players were there and they pushed a lot and it’s normal. We are not the NBA that when you finish you have three months off to recover. Not here, especially here. In good seasons or bad seasons it didn’t happen," he said.

"You have to adapt and that’s why I’m surprised how good we behaved. We faced an extraordinary team. It happened last season and it happened again. We were close and we are a little bit disappointed for the final result but it’s football," Guardiola added.

Manchester City will get their Premier League title defence underway with a trip to Burnley on August 12.