Manchester City showed they can finally take penalties (Bernardo Silva excluded) as the Blues beat Manchester United to win the Community Shield. Manuel Akanji converted the final penalty to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat in their opening game of the season at Wembley. Alejandro Garnacho had put United ahead eight minutes from time, but Silva equalised in the last minute.
In a game with few chances and both teams hitting the post, it was always going to go to penalties and with City fielding a fairly young team against an experienced United side, a draw was better for the Blues than their opponents.
City left Kevin de Bruyne, Nathan Ake, Matheus Nunes and Silva on the bench, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden were missing from the squad and Julian Alvarez was close to joining Atletico Madrid. The Blues held firm, however, with James McAtee impressing in the middle. And it was the youngster who almost scored the first goal in the first half when his curling shot hit the post and bounced to safety.
United also had chances, but Marcus Rashford was wasteful in front of goal, hitting the same post with 12 minutes left when it seemed easier to score. But the Reds took the lead when Garnacho smuggled a shot past Ederson in the 82nd minute.
United looked to be condemning the Blues to another defeat in the Community Shield but City can never be written off. The impressive Oscar Bobb, who may get a lot more playing time this season, spun past the United defence and delivered a brilliant cross which Silva headed home to give City an equaliser.
That was it in terms of goals and penalties, with Silva missing the first of City’s penalties. The next four were all converted, but with United leading 3-2, Ederson saved a Jadon Sancho penalty well and new signing Savinho levelled the shootout at 3-3. Both teams continued to score until sudden death, but with the score at 6-6, Jonny Evans fired his penalty over the bar to put City ahead.
It was up to Akanji to secure the win for the Blues and he converted his penalty perfectly to bring the ball home to Manchester.
Final result: Manchester City 1:1 Manchester United (City wins 7:6 on penalties).
