Gilberto Silva puts Arsenal back in groove

Arsenal 1 Liverpool

Another day, another medal. Exactly six weeks after Gilberto Silva took his turn to lift the World Cup in Yokohama, the Brazilian midfielder picked up another, somewhat less auspicious winner's memento in Cardiff yesterday after scoring a debut goal which Arsenal's superiority merited in a scrappy, rain-swept Community Shield encounter against Liverpool.

The presentation ceremony may have left Arsène Wenger's £4.5m newcomer from Atletico Mineiro confused. Despite the efforts of Billy Bremner, Kevin Keegan and Roy Keane to inject some competitiveness down the decades, he will have been told that the the Charity Shield, as it was previously called, is a glorified friendly with scant bearing on the nine-month slog that is the Premiership. Yet the flurry of fireworks and deafening, triumphal music would not have been out of place after Gilberto Silva helped his country claim gold against Germany.

The breakthrough for which an attritional affair was crying out arrived midway through the second half, just when it appeared the Double winners' ascendancy might go unrewarded and Liverpool had realised Jerzy Dudek and Steven Gerrard could not play them on their own. Dennis Bergkamp, whose cunning and craft remain qualities conspicuous by their absence from Liverpool's armoury, took Ashley Cole's pass near the corner flag on Arsenal's left and glanced up to assess his options.

Ray Parlour, having struck a stunning goal to help Arsenal to capture the FA Cup at the same venue three months earlier, was steaming in from the right, unmarked and eager to repeat the feat. But Gilberto Silva, a second-half substitute, had stolen into an even better, more central position, and when the Dutchman's carefully cut-back pass picked out his run, the 24-year-old dispatched it through Dudek's legs and into Liverpool's net from 15 yards. So much for the notion that he has been signed as a holding player to allow Patrick Vieira greater licence to attack.

Vieira, in his first "competitive" match as captain after Tony Adams confirmed his retirement yesterday, cut an imperious figure. Although the French midfielder was later cautioned after tripping Michael Owen, he did not allow a reckless fifth-minute lunge by Gerrard, which Wenger deemed worthy of a red card, to distract him from his leadership responsibilities. The players responded well to his example, looking sharper in the tackle from the start and quickly slipping into the passing rhythms of last spring.

The losers of this fixture traditionally declare it no more significant than a practice match as the winners savour the silverware. Wenger duly observed afterwards that "winning trophies" was a good habit and pronounced his players "ready". Of Gilberto Silva, whose international clearance arrived on Friday, he added: "The goal was a fantastic moment for him. He's a bit short physically at the moment but he still managed to arrive in the box at the right time."

The Arsenal manager had dubbed the match "the final preparation game for the championship". If that was true – and the last club to finish top after the winning the Shield were Manchester United in 1996 – then Liverpool still have much to do as they prepare for a campaign in which they hope to continue the progression that has taken from fourth to runners-up in the past three years.

Their manager, Gérard Houllier, admitted: "It took us half an hour to get into the game. I'm not concerned, though I would be if it was still like that in two months' time. We showed them too much respect, and they showed that they're a bit ahead of us." While one assumes he meant in terms of condition rather than quality, Arsenal had the edge on both counts.

Quite what it told us about the broader picture is open to question. Houllier at least raised the possibility that he may vary the way Liverpool play in order to accommodate the Senegal World Cup striker, El Hadji Diouf, in the same side as Michael Owen and Emile Heskey. Starting with Diouf playing just off the front two, where he looked unsure as to what he was supposed to be doing, they switched to an orthodox 4-4-2 in the second half, when the African contributed more positively and gave his side sorely needed width.

Dudek had kept Arsenal at bay in the first half with a succession of agile saves – three in barely 15 seconds at one point – and continued his defiance by diverting Thierry Henry's shot on to a post two minutes after the break. The reprieve seemed to spur Liverpool, who were refused a spot-kick after Owen fell theatrically, if perhaps legitimately, under Sol Campbell's challenge.

Six minutes later, as the rainclouds rolled in and created a scene more redolent of autumn, came the Silva lining which enabled Arsenal's outnumbered followers to celebrate their favourite scoreline in song. Both sets of supporters applauded the late introduction of Markus Babbel, who was making his comeback after nearly a year's absence due to a potentially fatal illness, which was at least in keeping with the concept of community.

Charity to opponents has never ranked highly on Arsenal's agenda, however, and all Liverpool had to show for some late bluster was another forlorn penalty appeal when Diouf launched himself headlong after being tackled by another son of Senegal, Vieira. The Anfield hordes had almost all left the stadium by the time Silva reprised his rostrum routine, but it will be a different matter next weekend.

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 0
Gilberto Silva 68

Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 67,337

Arsenal (4-4-2): Seaman; Lauren, Keown, Campbell, Cole; Parlour, Vieira, Edu (Gilberto Silva, h-t), Wiltord; Bergkamp (Touré, 86), Henry. Substitutes not used: Cygan, Upson, Luzhny, Aliadière, Taylor (gk).

Liverpool (4-3-1-2): Dudek; Abel Xavier (Babbel, 78), Henchoz, Hyypia, Traoré (Cheyrou, 88); Gerrard, Hamann (Murphy, 67), Riise; Diouf; Owen (Smicer, 85), Heskey (Baros, 74). Substitutes not used: Carragher, Kirkland (gk).

Referee: A Wiley (Burntwood, Staffs).

Bookings: Arsenal: Wiltord, Vieira, Henry, Silva. Liverpool: Gerrard, Murphy.

Man of the match: Vieira.