Manchester City sealed a seventh Community Shield title in the most dramatic fashion with a 7-6 penalty shootout win over Manchester United, to clinch the first ever Manchester Derby to be decided by penalties. This victory halted a run of three successive Community Shield defeats for City and sealed Pep Guardiola’s third Community Shield since being appointed Citizens manager.
A match that pitted the previous season’s FA Cup finalists against each other for only the eighth time in the competition’s history started with Citizens dominant in possession. It was a mix of youth and experience that led the charge in the Citizens lineup, wherein an Oscar Bobb rose as their key threat. Near the middle of the first half, Bobb cut in from the right and struck a shot barely wide of the mark to open the scoring. Minutes later, he provided for James McAtee, whose curling effort struck the post.
Manchester United, managed by Erik ten Hag, gradually got into the game. But they almost took the lead just before half-time when Marcus Rashford curled a shot wide after a fine team move.
The second half belonged to United, but Bruno Fernandes did put the ball in the back of the net; it was ruled out because of being offside. The introduction of substitutes increased the pace, and finally, United broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute when Alejandro Garnacho slotted past Ederson. But City responded in the 89th minute with Bernardo Silva’s powerful header, and therefore the game goes to extra time or a penalty shoot-out.
They held their nerve in the shootout as Jonny Evans missed for United, with Manuel Akanji firing home to seal the win, earn City a first Community Shield triumph in six years and finally end their streak of near misses in this competition.
