Akanji redemption wins Community Shield

Manchester City won the Community Shield for the first time since 2019 with a 7-6 penalty shootout win over Manchester United following a 1-1 draw at Wembley on Sunday. 

Following a slow-burn first half and a host of missed chances after the break — including a big one from Marcus Rashford — substitute Alejandro Garnacho gave United the lead in the 82nd minute following a driving run at the heart of the City defence.

However, that lead would last just seven minutes as fellow sub Bernardo Silva headed home City’s equaliser at the far post to force a shootout.

Bernardo missed City’s first spot-kick, but Pep Guardiola’s men remained perfect from there, with Jadon Sancho and Jonny Evans missing for United.

City have now ended a run of three straight defeats in the Community Shield, while United remain the only side to lose four in a row (1998-2001).

Here are the full player ratings as Manchester City lifted yet another trophy.

Man City vs Man Utd player ratings — Community Shield

Man City (4-3-3)

Ederson – 7/10 – Could do nothing about Garnacho’s goal, wasn’t really tested otherwise. Sent Onana the wrong way in the shootout after denying Sancho.

Rico Lewis – 7/10 – Search ‘Rico Lewis’ on X and you’ll see a lot of divided opinion on his performance here. For the record, he was pretty solid.

Manuel Akanji – 6/10 – Desperately tried to block Garnacho’s shot for the goal but couldn’t make up the ground in time. The goal definitely wasn’t his fault, though. Gained some redemption for his penalty shootout miss against England at Euro 2024 by scoring the winning effort here.

Ruben Dias – 5/10 – Didn’t cover himself in glory on the goal, allowing Garncho to go by him and cause a terrible mix-up with Gvardiol. An excellent penalty in the shootout, however.

Josko Gvardiol – 4/10 – As above.

Mateo Kovacic – 8/10 – Probably Man City’s best player. Moved the ball quickly and tried to drive through the lines, while always looking alert to loose balls. Needed Rodri next to him, in all honesty.

Nico O’Reilly – 6/10 – Didn’t quite get into the game as much as he’d have liked, but O’Reilly will be happy with what was a solid debut.

James McAtee – 8/10 – Misplaced just one of his 30 attempted passes and almost got on the scoresheet, but was desperately unlucky to see his curling effort hit the post.

Oscar Bobb – 8/10 – Direct and electric, always looking to make something happen. Final ball was sometimes…