Manchester City lift 2024 Community Shield title; beat Manchester United on penalties
Pep Guardiola’s side picked up their first win of the season.
Manchester City edged past Manchester United to lift the 2024 FA Community Shield 7-6 on penalties. The 102nd edition of the tournament started with City producing more trademark build-up-based chances while United stuck to picking out their forwards’ runs through longballs.
The Cityzens ventured forward as early as the 7th minute, but Rico Lewis’s pass was already intercepted as Erling Haaland looked sluggish. Jeremy Doku waltzed past Diogo Dalot and Harry Maguire shortly after, nutmegging the Portuguese right-back and misleading the English international, but his cross found no one in the box.
Manchester City’s first genuine chance came as silky right-winger Oscar Bobb glided into the United box but fired well over the top corner in the 20th minute. James McAtee capitalised on a Lisandro Martinez and Jonny Evans mixup three minutes later but hit the outside post with his curler.
It was United’s turn next and Amad Diallo slipped between Josko Gvardiol and the back-tracking Doku but whizzed his shot wide as the Red Devils’ first direct attempt went to waste. Three minutes later the Ivorian played a brilliant one-two with Casemiro, getting inside the box, but no one pounced on his pass as it rolled away to safety across the goal.
Marcus Rashford couldn’t place United’s next effort as great play between Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro found him with acres of space but the winger fluffed his chance with a hurried shot.
Doku was the Sky Blues’ most active attacker, bombing forward down the left, and soon got another shot at Manchester United’s goal. Though he found space between Diallo’s feet, he failed to test Andre Onana. That was the last significant action before the half-time whistle was blown and the two sides headed into their dugouts level at the break
Manchester United emerged as a different side in the second half, aiming to wrestle for a better share of possession and more structured attacks. Fernandes was the first to profit off that as he collected Martinez’s cross and blasted a belter into the top corner before he was adjudged to be offside by the slightest of margins.
The Red Devils kept going and Amad was a regular threat down the right for them, taking only one touch to bring down aerial balls and bursting into the box without pondering twice. United however opted to bring on Uruguayan Facundo Pellistri in his stead in the 59th minute as Scott Mctominay, Toby Collyer, and Alejandro Garnacho also came on for Mason Mount, Harry Maguire, and Kobbie Mainoo.
Midfield-focused changes meant United had three at the back now and Doku helped Manchester City advance as Gvardiol’s right-footed strike from outside the box flew narrowly wide of the post around the hour mark. The Cityzens then made their changes as Matheus Nunes and Savinho replaced O’Reilly and Doku respectively, with Girona’s breakout star from last season getting his first minutes in City colours.
In the 68th minute, United broke forward with Casemiro releasing Fernandes, but the Portuguese attacking midfielder shot straight into Ederson’s gloves. Nine minutes later Rashford missed United’s best chance of the game. He struck the post on a 1v1, from Alejandro Garnacho’s low cross, after the Argentinian was unleashed down the right by Fernandes.
The Red Devils continued missing their chances as McTominay missed the ball by a whisker, unable to direct Rashford’s headed pass goalwards from point-blank range in the 79th minute.
However, a minute later, Fernandes collected a loose ball in midfield after Collyer and Pellistri combined to recover it. He then found Garnacho with a trivela pass and the Argentinian raced a good 12 yards before giving United the lead with a left-footed finish as the Wembley ruptured with the fans’ applause.
Bernardo Silva picked up an unnecessary yellow only two minutes after coming on after he pushed the United goalscorer to the ground without reason. But the attacker made amends shortly afterward as he got on the end of a cross after Bobb, Svainho, and Lewis combined excellently and levelled the proceedings with a header off Bobb’s cross.
The final lived up to expectations with plenty of late-stage drama and went to penalties. Fernandes slotted in his penalty but his Portuguese counterpart and City’s goalscorer got his penalty saved by Onana. Dalot put enough power in his strike to put it past Ederson and then Kevin De Bruyne scored with a calm finish.
Haaland scored to take the Sky Blue closer with the score now at 3-2 but Jadon Sancho failed to convert his spot-kick. Casemiro put the Red Devils ahead but Ederson sent Onana the wrong way, levelling the score once again to 4-4.
Scott McTominay piled on the pressure with a well-placed finish and Matheus Nunes matched it well with an even better goal, smashing the top corner. Lisandro Martinez and Ruben Dias stepped up next and both scored, prolonging the inevitable.
Jonny Evans turned out to be the cause of United’s downfall as he skied his finish and Manuel Akanji didn’t even twitch as he won his side the FA Community Shield 2024 for his side. Pep Guardiola’s side persevered till the end and nicked their first silverware of the 2024-25 season.
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