The new English football season is officially underway following last night’s FA Community Shield at Wembley. The game saw FA Cup winners Leicester City lock horns with Premier League champions Manchester City, and while it didn’t exactly turn out to be a classic, it was certainly great to see two of the nation’s elite clubs back in action.
In the end it was Leicester City who walked away with the trophy thanks to a late penalty from former Etihad man Kelechi Iheanacho.
Leicester push forward
Leicester always felt like the team who were going to put their foot on the gas pedal in this one and that’s exactly how it panned out. They looked confident, they were aggressive and they rarely allowed Manchester City to find their way into the game. Brendan Rodgers wanted to go out there and make a statement and while it may not have been as affirmative as that, it was definitely nice to see them get after it in a big match.
Grealish’s quiet debut
Jack Grealish came on for the last 25-30 minutes at Wembley after his blockbuster £100 million move from Aston Villa earlier in the week. It was a pretty quite debut for the Englishman, which many anticipated would be the case, as he’ll take a few weeks at the very least to embed himself into the system at the club. There are many opinions out there regarding whether or not he should’ve made the jump over but now, all there is to focus on is the future.
City take a step back
Between Palmer, Edozie and Knight all featuring with many stars resting after the Euros, it’s not hard to see why everyone thought Pep Guardiola was taking it easy for this game. The Spaniard was always going to want to get another trophy under his belt but the priority is the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup – not the Community Shield. Still, there were notable problems within parts of what they produced on the day, and those issues will need to be rectified in the coming days and weeks.
Match Report
Leicester: Schmeichel (7), Bertrand (6.5), Soyuncu (7), Amartey (7), Pereira (7.5), Ndidi (7.5), Tielemans (7), Barnes (7), Maddison (7), Perez (6.5), Vardy (6.5), Thomas (6.5), Albrighton (6.5), Dewsbury-Hall (6.5), Daka (6), Iheanacho (7.5), Soumare (6.5)
Manchester City: Steffen (7), Cancelo (7), Dias (6.5), Ake (6), Mendy (6.5), Palmer (7), Fernandinho (6), Gundogan (7), Mahrez (6), Torres (5.5), Edozie (7), Knight (6), Grealish (6), Rodri (6), Silva (6)
Referee: Paul Tierney
Goals: Iheanacho pen
Yellow Cards: Bertrand, Dias, Fernandinho
Red Cards: N/A
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
