Sead Kolasinac delivers as Arsenal's unlikely hero but Alvaro Morata makes slow start to life for Chelsea

How did the new boys fare in their Community Shield outing? Here, we take a closer look at the new signings

Sead Kolasinac was brought into the fray after Per Mertesacker was taken off with injury (Getty)

Arsenal claimed victory in the Community Shield, beating London rivals Chelsea 4-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time.

Victor Moses opened the scoring at Wembley after capitalising on a breakdown in communication between Arsenal's backline.

The Premier League champions held on to their lead until the final 10 minutes of the match when Sead Kolasinac met Granit Xhaka's free-kick to head home an equaliser.

Both sides were unable to find a winning goal in the dying minutes of normal time, sending the game to penalties and an eventual Arsenal victory.

So how did the new boys fare in Sunday's curtain-raiser? Here, we take a closer look at the new signings:

Alexandre Lacazette

Arsene Wenger spent £55m on Alexandre Lacazette hoping that the France striker could provide some extra cutting edge up front, something between the athleticism of Danny Welbeck and the experience of Olivier Giroud.

Alexandre Lacazette in action for the Gunners (Getty)

Lacazette’s movement was intelligent and dangerous throughout: sometimes running in behind to test David Luiz and Gary Cahill, sometimes coming short. There were spells when he was not in the game, of course, but he also had Arsenal’s best first-half chance: he surged down the middle, passed to Welbeck, got the ball back and curled a clever shot onto the far post.

This was not Lacazette at his best but there were still glimpses of his talent – he span Cahill early in the second half – before Wenger took him off on 65 minutes. Will only improve as the season goes on.

Sead Kolasinac

The hero of the afternoon for Arsenal, who got them back into the game with a thumping header from Granit Xhaka’s free-kick. When he starts moving he is difficult to stop, as Chelsea found to their cost here.

Kolasinac started on the bench today but Arsene Wenger had to turn to the big Bosnian when Per Mertesacker went off with a facial injury half-way through the first half. Playing on the left of Arsenal’s back three, Kolasinac defended with solid muscularity, pushing Willian off the ball a few times and stepping in to intercept. Even if some of his tackles were slightly over-enthusiastic.

Sead Kolasinac's equaliser sent the game to penalties (Getty)

What stood out, though, was Kolasinac’s remarkable mobility given his sizeable frame. He went on two powerful runs down the left, generating a momentum that made Chelsea’s defenders reluctant to get in the way. At one point he even skipped past Chelsea players to start an attack with a nimbleness few would have expected.

Even if his approach can look slightly rudimentary, Kolasinac does give Arsenal a physical presence they lack in both boxes, as well as the ability to cover at left-back or in the back three. Not bad for a free transfer.

Alvaro Morata

This was not the ideal start to his Chelsea career. Morata was one of Chelsea’s two penalty-missers in the shoot-out. Taking his kick straight after Thibaut Courtois had skied his miles over the bar, Morata dragged his kick wide of the bottom-left hand corner. That gave Arsenal the opening, which Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud took, and Morata looked crestfallen afterwards.

With Michy Batshuayi starting up front, Morata was only seen for 16 minutes of open play before the shootout. But he did look good leading the line, giving Chelsea more of a presence than Batshuayi did. Twice he won headers up against Rob Holding, allowing his team to go direct when they needed to.

Morata was brought on 16 minutes before the end (Getty)

Morata even had a good chance to put Chelsea 2-0 up, before Kolasinac equalised. He ran down the right as Willian broke through the middle, and evaded the attentions of Nacho Monreal. Willian’s pass found him but Morata skewed his sliding finish over the bar. His afternoon did not get any better.

Antonio Rudiger

Only came on for the last 11 minutes, slotting in to the right of Chelsea’s back three. By that point 10-man Chelsea were under real pressure and he never looked especially confident. At one point Arsenal teenager Reiss Nelson lifted the ball over him and escaped. Although it would be unfair to judge him on this, there will be plenty more real tests ahead.