Arsenal 1 Liverpool 0: Silva seals it.

A rather drizzly Cardiff as it happens. Those wise enough to travel to the game avoided Steve Bruce on Sky TV which in itself is probably worthy of a trip to Wales. Had I known who this week's 'special guest' was going to be I might have travelled myself. Bad enough that we get to see his ugly mug at Highbury next week.

Arsenal of course, were without Tony Adams or the 'six' shirt for the first time since the Jurassic Period, but it didn't really show. Patrick looked the part and probably headed clear from set plays as often as our Tone did whilst contesting what used to be the Charity Shield. Both sides were up for it in a match that while keenly contested was too early in the season to be a classic. We started with Pat and Edu in central midfield, Sylvain wide left and Ray a very wide right. The rest of the team was as expected. Our two new boys, Taylor, Oleg, Matty, Toure and Aliadiere comprised the larger than usual bench.

Sir Steve Redgrave (a Chelsea fan - and it serves him right) had the honour of being introduced to our players prior to kick off. When the game started Thierry drew the first foul of the match as Henchoz blocked his path knowing he was about to be skinned. 'Stand up for the Champions' was an early rendition from what appeared to be a relatively quiet crowd of 60,000 plus. Parlour won a corner with a decent cross but Sol was wide with his header from Edu's corner kick. Alan Wiley awarded the first yellow of the season against Gerrard for wrapping his legs around Vieira from behind. Keown cleared whilst Pat was still off the field of play. Gerrard then went in studs to ankle on Henry and in the context of later bookings should have got his second card. I don't think he deserved another yellow but relative to later 'nothing' cards that were flourished by Wiley there was certainly a case.

Arsenal bossed the match in fine style for the majority of the first half. Cole was getting forward well and linking with Sylvain, Henry was showing his speed and skill. Edu looked to be enjoying himself in the central role and sprayed some tasty passes about. Arsene was frowning from the bench in shirtsleeves and a new Club tie where he witnessed Cole tidying up at the back, a fine left-foot cross from Henry and a blocked shot from Dennis. Arsenal's dominance was confirmed as Dudek first held a shot from Henry then made a series of fine stops all in the one piece of play. First off Henry cut in cleverly from the left and unleashed a strong shot, which Dudek tipped away to Parlour on our right. Ray quickly found Dennis inside, who hit it on the turn with his right. The keeper blocked that one, but only out to Bergkamp again who replied with his left peg but this time straight at the keeper.

Wiltord picked up a yellow card for not a lot. Following Hamann's trip on Pat outside their area Edu blasted the free kick at their wall and poll-axed Riise. Heskey had Pool's first shot on goal in the 28th minute but Seaman blocked his angled strike. Diouf showed fine skills but enjoyed falling over without just cause, he repeated this throughout the match and won a lot of free kicks but probably missed out on a possible penalty later in the game as a result. Seaman made a fine high catch in a ruck of players despite his even longer non-aerodynamic pony-tail. Pat earned a yellow for catching Owen as he tried but failed to pull out of a tackle on the skiddy surface. Riise won a corner when his free-kick was deflected. Liverpool had got into the game now but Henry and Sylvain combined well to put in Parlour on the right who fired low across the face of goal. Another good sweeping move down our right ended with a quick snapshot from Wiltord.

Henry became another big name scalp for the tedious Wiley, someone should have told him it was a pre-season friendly. The half ended with a rash of corners for the Scousers but the first half's shot count of 5-1 to Arsenal was a reasonable reflection of the way the play had gone. Then again we all remember dominating a Cup Final against them in similar fashion a couple of seasons back, don't we!

The second half, which overall was a bit flatter than the first, saw Arsene abandon his tie and Gilberto replace Edu who had a bit of a hamstring problem it seems. Gilberto by the way is the name that appears on our 19 shirt and not Silva as most of us had anticipated. Liverpool started brightly but it was Henry, still having no luck in Cardiff, who hit the post via the inside of Dudek's legs, the Liverpool defence having been left for dead by Bergkamp's through-ball. A rather untypical Owen miss-hit in front of goal gave us a bit of a let off. This was followed by another sweeping Gunner's move, and another shot from Henry. Diouf had a chance after Lauren fannied around at the back with a limp header. Liverpool were on top for a good ten-minute spell during which their passing was slick and they kept good possession.

Arsenal came back through Bergkamp who had a left-foot shot in space after Pat put him away, but it was off target. Lauren then won a corner with a shot when he might have passed. Dudek proved more reliable than Barthez when he rounded Dennis who had closed down well. Murphy came on for Hamann before we hit what proved to be the winner. The move was good, the movement was good and the cutback by Dennis with his left foot in the left channel was right on the money. Gilberto had made an excellent run into the box and slotted home a low drive with his left. 1-0 to the Arsenal and a fine goal for the World Cup winner who was mobbed by his new team-mates.

Cole and Wiltord combined well down their flank as we countered Liverpool's attempts to equalise. Chants of 'champions' could again be heard as Gerrard won a corner when his shot was deflected wide. Seaman punched the corner well clear but the whistle had gone for an Arsenal free kick. Diouf paid for his earlier dying swan impersonations when having nutmeged Cole he drove into the area to be confronted by Vieira who slid in low. If Liverpool's new number 9 had not started his dive before Pat actually connected it had to be a certain penalty. Baros on for Heskey before Wiley couldn't resist being the first ref to bag Gilberto in his book, Diouf having gone down again.

Dennis impeded Hypia outside our box but Diouf shot wide from the free-kick. Traore went off and Babbel came on to a great reception. Arsenal were conceding too many free-kicks at this stage but still holding firm. The Gunners scrambled clear from a long throw before Murphy's badly timed tackle on Pat drew yet another yellow from Wiley. Henry broke clear but couldn't pick out Wiltord on a fine run. A rash of substitutions late on disrupted what flow there was to the game. Seaman was clattered having caught a high cross and was more than a tad miffed at Babbel who had been the clatteree. The match ended after three minutes of added time and the better team had won, unlike our previous meeting in Cardiff.

Predictably Bruce awarded the man of the match to a centre back. Martin Keown got the honour today, which in his 400th game for the Club was a nice little landmark. As we all know winning the Shield means nothing in the context of the coming season. But just how many times have your lot won the Community Shield Ferguson?

Finally rumour has it that Arsene Wenger had just one week off in the summer, so just why is he, along with some other big names, advocating a mid-season break? Surely he can't want even more holidays? If he got them he'd probably only be off scouting to Brazil or somewhere. Mind you if he finds some more like Edu and Gilberto I'm all for it.