At 5pm in England, the 2019-20 season officially began. Traditionally, it started with the "Community Shield" match.
At the "Wembley" stadium, the reigning champions of England, "Manchester City," faced off against the country's runner-up, "Liverpool," from last season. After an intense battle that went to penalties, Pep Guardiola's team emerged victorious and claimed the first trophy of the season.
From the beginning of the match, the "Citizens" took the initiative and scored in the 12th minute. Raheem Sterling found a gap in the opponent's defense after a set piece and beat Alisson.
Later in the first half, "Man City" had several opportunities to increase their lead, but the teams went into halftime with the score unchanged.
The second half was much more challenging for the "Man City" team, as "Liverpool"'s energy prevented them from controlling the ball easily.
The equalizing goal came in the 77th minute, also from a set piece, as Joel Matip scored after a pass from Virgil van Dijk.
Feeling the taste of victory, "Liverpool" did not stop after the equalizer and actively pressed their opponents. In the dying minutes of the match, Mohamed Salah was inches away from a winning goal, but Kyle Walker cleared the ball acrobatically off the goal line.
With no winner decided in regular time, the match was decided in a penalty shootout. Georginio Wijnaldum missed for "Liverpool," while "Man City" scored all their five penalties, becoming the winners of the tournament.
It was the sixth "Community Shield" trophy that "Man City" has won.
Result:
"Liverpool" 1 - 1 "Man City" (5-4 on penalties) 12' [0 - 1] R. Sterling 77' [1 - 1] J. Matip
Starting lineups:
"Liverpool": Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Origi, Firmino. Subs: Mignolet, Lovren, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Shaqiri, Matip.
"Man City": Bravo; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Rodri, Silva, De Bruyne; Bernardo, Sané, Sterling. Subs: Ederson, Gundogan, Jesus, Agüero, Angeliño, Foden, García.
