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The first-ever Manchester Derby settled by a penalty shootout was won by Manchester City, who ended a run of three consecutive losses in the Community Shield after a 7-6 victory against Manchester United, giving Pep Guardiola’s men a seventh triumph in their history and their third since the Spaniard took over as City manager.
For just the eighth time in the history of the Community Shield, the previous season’s FA Cup finalists faced off, and following the Red Devils’ triumph in May, Erik ten Hag was looking to start his third campaign at the United helm with another success. A City side comprised of a mix of youth and experience dominated the early possession as their opponents looked to soak up the pressure and hit on the counter.
City’s youngsters were proving dangerous for the United defence, with Oscar Bobb looking the most threatening, coming close to the opener midway through the half as he cut in from the right and sent an effort over the bar. Minutes later, Bobb then pounced on a loose ball following a mix-up at the back for United and fed James McAtee, whose curling shot cannoned off the post. It wasn’t until just before the half-hour mark that Ten Hag’s men posed an attacking threat as Amad Diallo picked the ball up on the right flank and drifted into the box before shooting off-target.
The Red Devils finished the half strongly, almost seizing a half-time lead when a well-worked team move culminated with Marcus Rashford opening his body up to curl an effort wide of the far post from inside the box. Neither coach made a change at the break, and United looked a lot more comfortable following the restart, hitting the back of the net within eight minutes.
Lisandro Martínez split the City defence, sending Bruno Fernandes through on goal and the United captain turned and fired in a sublime finish from outside the box – but the Portuguese maestro was teased by a delayed offside flag, chalking the goal off. A host of changes altered the tempo of the contest just after the hour mark but once settled in, it became a back-and-forth affair as Rashford was denied by the woodwork after being picked out by the storming Alejandro Garnacho. The Argentine was proving to be a thorn in City’s side and he broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute after drifting into the box and sliding the ball past Ederson.
However, Bernardo Silva then popped up in the 89th minute with a bullet header to send the match into penalties. Level after seven penalties apiece, Jonny Evans lifted his penalty over the bar, leaving Manuel Akanji to score and give City victory against their local rivals, ending their rotten run in the Community Shield – their first win in six years.
