Reuters/Matthew Childs
The 2026 Community Shield was a one-sided affair, with Arsenal easing past Manchester City. The Premier League champions won 3-0 on the day, but one player has come in for some strong criticism.
The Gunners were at it from the off against Enzo Maresca's side, with Riccardo Calafiori netting after just 24 seconds. Kai Havertz then headed home to make it 2-0 in Cardiff before half-time, as Martin Odegaard capped off a fine display with his team's third in the 48th minute.
Truth be told, Mikel Arteta's men never looked like losing and were in cruise control for most of the second half against an underwhelming Man City team. Despite that, former PGMOL head Keith Hackett has taken issue with one key incident.
Arsenal celebrate after winning the 2026 Community Shield
Arsenal celebrate after winning the 2026 Community Shield
Keith Hackett Slams Arsenal Star After Community Shield
Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs
During the match, with Arsenal on top and pushing for more goals, Calafiori burst into the box on the overlap. Christos Tzolis' pass was a touch heavy, allowing Abdukodir Khusanov in with a chance of winning the ball. Anticipating contact from the Man City defender, the Italian threw himself to the ground.
Khusanov read his intentions and made sure not to make any significant contact. Referee Sam Barrott was on top of the incident and correctly opted to book the defender for simulation. Speaking to Football Insider, Hackett has now slammed Calafiori while praising the official.
On the referee's actions, he said: “Sam Barrott is an established, good referee who has come through very quickly, is very experienced and is officiating really well. So for me I think it's great that we've got another named referee that appears to be a safe pair of hands
“The more referees penalise acts of simulation, diving, the less players will do it. This borders on the amusing, but not because it's so bad.
“If referees are not going to take the action unilaterally across all the group, all the games, then we will never get rid of this aspect of the game which is damaging to the image."
He then went after Calafiori, noting:
“There's no other word for it than cheating. That's what they're doing. They're trying to win a penalty kick or feign that they've been punched or received a strike to the head.
“All these sorts of nonsense things that go on. Fans are not daft. Whoever you support, they don't like it, and I share their view.
“And I think referees like Barrett have set the scene, but until there is a consistent approach, players will continue to simulate."
Hackett Proposes New Rule To Guard Against Premier League Diving
Hackett then proposed that VAR could be used to help make sure that all diving is punished. He pointed out that sometimes a referee won't give a penalty, but will also avoid booking a player if the dive isn't particularly obvious.
The former Premier League referee insisted that VAR should be able to tell a referee when a player has dived, explaining:
“One thing I want to see happen is that, when a player goes down in the penalty area screaming for a penalty kick, and the referee goes no, VAR checks no, then that referee should go to that player and issue a yellow card for simulation. I think that's pretty clear.
“We've had, in recent seasons, checks on penalty kicks, no penalty kick awarded, and the players have got away with it. It's a risk and reward, isn't it, for the player?
“But it's an unacceptable part of the game, and well done to Barrett.”
It will be interesting to see if the laws around potential punishments for diving do change in the VAR era.