The Briefing: Manchester City 1 Manchester United 1 - Akanji wins Community Shield on penalties (2024)

Seventy-nine days after they met in the FA Cup final, Manchester City and Manchester United faced each other at Wembley again this afternoon in the Community Shield, with Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions beating Erik ten Hag’s cup winners 7-6 on penalties following a 1-1 draw.

The first half was goalless, with both sides displaying the traditional pre-season combination of misplaced passes and some promising build-up. But the game opened up after the break, especially once both managers had made a raft of substitutions.

Marcus Rashford hit the post on a counter-attack with 15 minutes to go, and United team-mate Scott McTominay mistimed a finish from close range a few minutes later. That United pressure looked like it had won the game when Alejandro Garnacho scored past Ederson from just inside the box with less than 10 minutes to go, but another substitute — Bernardo Silva — headed City level in the 89th minute. With no extra time in the Community Shield, it was straight on to penalties.

A Bernardo miss in the shootout handed United an early advantage, before Jadon Sancho did the same to even things up. Casemiro put United 4-3 ahead before Ederson (of course) took a delightful penalty to equalise. The decisive moment came when Jonny Evans put United’s eighth penalty over the crossbar, which allowed Manuel Akanji to score the winner.

Omen fans might like to remember that the last time City won the Community Shield was in 2019, which was the last season in which they didn’t end up with the Premier League title.

Laurie Whitwell, Carl Anka and Sam Lee break some of the key talking points from the game.

What was behind the ‘Martinez at left-back’ decision?

Erik ten Hag has not been afraid to experiment with his back line during Manchester United’s various injury crises and he sprung another surprise today by starting central defender Lisandro Martinez as their left-back for the first time.

Harry Amass, a 17-year-old left-back from the academy, had been in contention to feature, given he had started each of the previous three pre-season games, but Ten Hag opted for experience at Wembley, even if it was in an unfamiliar position.

Martinez had some difficult moments, notably when Oscar Bobb cut inside him easily before shooting over, and then when he gave City possession with a loose pass intended for Jonny Evans. James McAtee ran on and clanged his finish against the post.

But the reasoning for Ten Hag’s call would become clear, with Martinez stepping on into central midfield to assist with build-up when United had the ball at the back. Mason Mount rotated to the left to fill the gap.

Martinez had entered that area in the second half when he drove the pass through for Bruno Fernandes to score a ‘goal’ that got ruled out for offside.

Ten Hag might have gone for the same full-backs as against City in last season’s FA Cup final triumph had progress stalled on Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s anticipated move to West Ham United. But Wan-Bissaka did not travel down to London with the squad, as his transfer heads towards a conclusion, and instead Diogo Dalot took up his customary role at right-back. He had been on the left at Wembley back in May.

United have Wan-Bissaka’s replacement lined up, reaching agreement with Bayern Munich for Noussair Mazraoui, a player they’ve chosen in part because of his versatility on the left. The Morocco international is more of a Ten Hag full-back, with attacking instincts, and so will also provide competition for Dalot on the right. Dalot had a tough job today against Jeremy Doku, who had sparked City to life as a substitute in that FA Cup final, at one stage getting nutmegged by the touchline. Doku sprang away and crossed from the byline.

Ten Hag had a word with Dalot by the dugout, and he did manage to tackle Doku in the box later. In the second half, Ten Hag sent Dalot to left-back, with Martinez tucking into his usual centre-back role, after Harry Maguire went off and was replaced by Facundo Pellistri. About as far from a like-for-like replacement as possible, Pellistri went to right-back to complete an afternoon of unorthodox selections.

Their full-back rotations cost United at the end. The 5ft 8in (173cm) Bernardo winning a far-post header is a startling sight, but against the 5ft 9in Pellistri it was slightly more understandable.

Laurie Whitwell

Why Guardiola’s intensity needs no pre-season

City manager Pep Guardiola never struggles for motivation, which helps explain why he started hinting at signing a new contract during their recent pre-season tour in the United States. He is back, and the juices are flowing, which means that others who have only been back from their holidays for a few days will have to get up to speed quickly — and especially those who were in the U.S. with him.

Take one example from the first half here, where the ball was sent behind the City defence, with no United player chasing it.

Guardiola gestured for Ederson to come out from goal and sweep up quickly, which he didn’t do. The referee then stopped the game for an injury, so Guardiola told Ederson and centre-back Ruben Dias exactly what they should have done, which then developed into a full-on team talk, with all the frantic hand gestures from the City manager you would expect.

Another example came when Josko Gvardiol played a ball down the line that put Jeremy Doku under pressure, with Guardiola calling for a safer pass back towards Ederson. United launched a dangerous attack and could well have taken the lead, but while the absence of an opposition goal protected Gvardiol from the spotlight, Guardiola will not have forgotten — especially as he spent much of last season telling the Croatian defender to keep things simple in possession.

The occasion at Wembley wasn’t important enough for Guardiola to crouch down in concern whenever United had a counter-attack until the break that saw them take the lead via substitute Alejandro Garnacho.

His intensity is well known by now and it is obviously a key part of his management, trying his best to ensure that his players’ standards never drop, and we saw that again here.

Sam Lee

Did Amad advance his claim for a regular spot in United’s XI?

It’s taken a while for Amad’s United career to build momentum, having signed for them in January 2021, but he appears to be on the cusp of something brilliant. The 22-year-old has been a standout performer across this pre-season so far, and was the conduit for much of United’s best attacking moves in the first half here.

The Ivory Coast international winger would burst in behind City’s defence a touch after the half-hour mark, exchanging one-twos with Casemiro before finding himself through on goal. But he opted to square the ball across the six-yard box – trying to tee up Mason Mount – rather than try the shot himself. Unfortunately for United, Mount wasn’t quite on Amad’s wavelength and the chance came and went.

A creative player whose value multiplies when he’s surrounded by like-minded team-mates, Amad is a promising option on United’s right wing. His clever combination play with the likes of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes helps him eke out a yard of space behind a defence where other wingers might run down corridors. He played 59 minutes today before being replaced with Alejandro Garnacho and offers an interesting alternative to the Argentine forward.

With Garnacho and Antony still looking to build their match fitness, Amad has a little wiggle room to secure a starting position in Ten Hag’s XI for the opening weeks of the new season — it’s an opportunity he should take.

Carl Anka

How did City’s fringe players get on?

James McAtee hit a post in the first half, which will have done him a world of good as the new season approaches. Pep Guardiola says the 21-year-old and his midfield partner here, Nico O’Reilly, 19, will be part of the City first-team squad this season, although The Athletic understands that with McAtee there is still a final decision to be made.

He is obviously a very talented player but he isn’t as close to the starting XI as, say, Oscar Bobb, given he has the likes of Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne ahead of him in the pecking order. It will be interesting to see, first of all, if he does remain as part of the squad this season and, if so, how that looks exactly. As for O’Reilly, he did not exactly struggle but you could see certain areas in need of improvement. For example, he often ran with the ball and lost possession.

But in mitigation, O’Reilly said earlier in pre-season that he was getting used to playing in front of crowds that were noisy enough to not be able to hear the manager or his team-mates, so a Wembley showdown with 78,000 in attendance is always going to be another level or two up.

In the next tier up from that pair, there were Bobb and 19-year-old Rico Lewis, both of whom showed that they looked right at home in this City team. They have done very well in pre-season and Bobb, 21, is likely to start the league campaign next weekend on the right wing, giving him the opportunity to have a breakthrough year.

He certainly has the talent to do so, as he showed with his delightful assist for Bernardo Silva’s equaliser.

That sums up his game to a tee.

Sam Lee

How seriously was the game played?

Is the Community Shield the first chance for (minor) silverware in a season? Or a dressed-up last bit of pre-season from which we look to draw too many conclusions?

Pep Guardiola himself has said he counts the Community Shield when tallying up his medals, as the equivalent domestic Super Cup was considered of some importance in Germany and Spain when he was managing in those countries. United counterpart Erik ten Hag called it a competitive match in his pre-game press conference on Thursday, but also a situation in which he didn’t want to take big risks with his players. And he would make a quadruple substitution shortly before the hour; Kobbie Mainoo, Amad, Mason Mount and Harry Maguire off, Scott McTominay, Facundo Pellistri, Toby Collyer and Alejandro Garnacho on.

What we saw at Wembley on Saturday was a half-and-half. Both sides took a while to get going before nutmegs, take-ons and a few feisty slide tackles perked things up. Jonny Evans – who was an unused substitute in the 2008 Community Shield (have a look at those line-ups for a dose of nostalgia) — made more than a few clearances. A sedate final friendly to work off the ring rust before next weekend’s opening round of Premier League fixtures, this was not.

There were a few sequences where you could see the idea of how each side wish to approach the new season, even if the execution was lacking.

United want to get a bit more experimental with their short goal-kick routines, with Harry Maguire often starting sequences by passing to ’keeper Andre Onana, who then looks to a rotating cast of suitors.

On the other hand, City have shown they have the bodies to replace the departed Julian Alvarez’s attacking output. The 62nd minute saw the introduction of newcomer Savinho; a player who greatly enjoys getting onto the ball and forcing opposition full-backs to retreat. No La Liga player attempted more take-ons than the Brazilian did on loan at Girona last season.

When Bruno Fernandes “scored” what proved an offside goal in the 54th minute, the red-inclined sections of the Wembley crowd erupted in delight. The Community Shield matters, at least when you think your team are winning the game.

The shape of the match understandably took a hit after a raft of second-half changes, but Marcus Rashford’s reaction after hitting the post in the 74th minute reminded everyone of the competitive nature of all involved. When Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring seven minutes later, the scenes among United fans were jubilant.

When Bernardo Silva fouled him off the ball after that, you understood that a good bit of needle remained between the two sides.

City and United have differing aims for the 2024-25 season, but for 90 or so minutes in north-west London on Saturday, they fought on an equal(ish) footing.

Carl Anka

Did Matheus Nunes show Savinho why he needs a quick start?

City’s first substitutions were Matheus Nunes, who needs a big second season after a disappointing debut campaign, and Savinho, who was making his debut after a summer move from France’s Troyes, a club who are part of the City Football Group stable.

Savinho, it is expected, will play on the right this season but he replaced Jeremy Doku here and immediately took up residence on the left wing, where he showed some good flashes of his dribbling ability, although his more expansive passes needed some work.

Nunes showed last season after joining from Wolves that his biggest threat is carrying the ball over large distances from deep positions, and he showed that again here, for better and for worse: an otherwise promising one-two was curtailed by an overhit Savinho pass, but then he later lost possession upfield before United went to the other end and scored.

More to come from both of these guys, who are at different stages in their City careers.

Sam Lee

Garnacho returns in confident fashion

Alejandro Garnacho had not played a second of United’s pre-season before today, but he picked up where he left off for his club by scoring against Manchester City at Wembley.

Whereas his FA Cup final goal in May owed a lot to City mistakes, this one was all his own doing. Receiving the ball from Bruno Fernandes on the right, he sensed a chance to attack with Josko Gvardiol out of position and Scott McTominay running beyond Ruben Dias to give the City centre-back something to think about. Garnacho glided inside, beyond Dias and the backtracking Gvardiol and struck a precise finish into the bottom corner. The goal looked effortless and his celebration told of a player who embraces the big stage.

He savoured the crowd’s joy by the corner flag, got mobbed by team-mates, and heard his name sung loudly by the United fans behind them.

He could have had an assist too, had Rashford been calmer with his finish. It was an eventful 30 minutes after replacing Amad off the bench, and he followed it up with a confidently-converted penalty in the shootout.

Laurie Whitwell

What did Ten Hag say?

United manager Erik ten Hag told ITV Sport, the game’s UK broadcaster: “When the performance is right, we are winning in the game, and in the penalty series as well, and then we lose, everyone feels this. It hurts in your stomach. But you have to hurt, you have to feel pain now, because it will give us motivation to do better. It will give us belief we can compete with City and we take this into the season.”

What did Guardiola say?

The City manager told ITV Sport: “I enjoyed the season against our rival in Manchester and to start the season with a title is good. We are really pleased. We lost a lot of balls. After transitions, they are one of the best teams in the world. They are so dangerous to control. But in the end we did it.”

What next for City?

Sunday, August 18: Chelsea (A), Premier League, 4.30pm BST, 11.30am ET

What next for United?

Friday, August 16: Fulham (H), Premier League, 8pm BST, 3pm ET

Recommended reading

• Antony interview: ‘I’ve learnt from it all, I’ve grown and matured’
• From Bobb to Savinho to McAtee: How City could adapt to Alvarez’s departure
• Is the cult of the manager over? How English football’s power structure changed
• Fantasy Premier League: This season’s best out-of-position players

(Top photo: Paul Harding – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)