Manchester City won the Community Shield with a 7-6 penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester United following a 1-1 draw at Wembley.
Manuel Akanji hit the winning spot-kick after Jonny Evans had sent his effort over the bar, ensuring the champions avoided a second consecutive Wembley loss to the FA Cup winners.
United substitute Alejandro Garnacho appeared to have won it for United in normal time when he latched onto a Bruno Fernandes pass in the 82nd minute, cut inside from the right flank and fired a clinical finish beyond the reach of a full-stretch Ederson.
But City regained their composure and found an equaliser in the penultimate minute of the 90 as Bernardo Silva, another substitute, beat Facundo Pellistri in the air to power a fine header past Andre Onana from Oscar Bobb’s right-wing cross.
Bernardo Silva celebrates after scoring City’s late equaliser
Earlier in a tightly-contested game, James McAtee, starting in City’s midfield along with 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly, had struck the post, while Manchester United had gone agonisingly close to a brilliant team goal when Amad Diallo’s pass across goal just eluded the onrushing Fernandes.
Otherwise, it was United who had the better of the chances, with Marcus Rashford striking the woodwork from one of several opportunities and Pep Guardiola seen throwing his water bottle to the floor in frustration at his side’s performance at the end of the first period.
Amad Diallo rues a missed chance in the Community Shield
The City boss was smiling at the end, though, with Akanji’s winning penalty coming after an earlier miss from Silva and, from United, a miss from Jadon Sancho, whose effort was superbly saved by Ederson, as well as Evans.
United will take encouragement from the way they performed, though, and were boosted by news of a deal agreed for Bayern Munich centre-back Matthijs de Ligt shortly before kick-off.
Analysis: City find a way to win
Sky Sports’ Nick Wright at Wembley:
Guardiola’s side have not fared well in the Community Shield in recent years, losing the previous three consecutive editions to Leicester, Liverpool and Arsenal respectively.
It seemed they were heading for defeat number four when Garnacho found the bottom corner, giving United what felt like a deserved lead. But City showed their capacity to dig deep.
Erling Haaland tangles with Jonny Evans
Bernardo’s equaliser was borne out of pure desire as he overpowered Pellistri to meet Bobb’s cross in emphatic style and another recovery was needed in the shoot-out when the same player failed to convert City’s opening penalty.
Sancho’s miss gave them another chance and this time they seized it, with debutant Savinho, goalkeeper Ederson, Matheus Nunes and, finally, Akanji converting to hand City yet another piece of silverware as they prepare to defend their Premier League crown.
Analysis: Reasons for positivity for Man Utd
Sky Sports’ Nick Wright at Wembley:
Manchester United will rue their failure to hold onto the lead after Garnacho’s brilliantly-taken opener but this, for the most part, was a positive afternoon for Ten Hag and his players.
Savinho rides a challenge from Toby Collyer
As in the FA Cup final at the same ground 77 days earlier, they were able to cause the champions serious problems, slicing through them on more than one occasion with intricate passing moves and leaning heavily on their young stars.
Kobbie Mainoo, Diallo and Garnacho all caught the eye and 20-year-old Toby Collyer also appeared from the bench. There were strong displays from more experienced heads as well, with Fernandes excelling and Casemiro looking much-improved on last season at the base of midfield.
There was no run-out for new Joshua Zirkzee, who remained an unused substitute on this occasion, but the former Bologna striker is set to be followed by more reinforcements.
What’s coming up in the Premier League?
Friday 16th August 6:30pm
Kick off 8:00pm
The wait is nearly over. Manchester United will kick off the new Premier League season at home to Fulham on Friday night, live on Sky Sports, with kick-off at 8pm.
Sunday 18th August 4:00pm
Kick off 4:30pm
The game is one of five matches live on Sky Sports on the opening weekend of the season, including West Ham vs Aston Villa on Saturday Night Football, a Super Sunday double header of Brentford vs Crystal Palace and Chelsea vs Manchester City, before Leicester vs Tottenham round off the weekend’s action on Monday Night Football.
