Three things we learned – Manchester City 1:1 Manchester United (7:6, penalty)

Manchester City defeated local rivals United on penalties to win the Community Shield for the first time since 2019.

Alejandro Garnacho’s goal in the 83rd minute seemed to have secured the win for the Reds, but just before the end substitute Bernardo Silva headed in a penalty after a cross from Oscar Bobb at the far post.

And after his miss against England in the quarter-finals of the European Championship, it was Manuel Akanji who converted the decisive penalty for City after Jonny Evans had fired his penalty into the air for United.

Here are three takeaways from the Community Shield win:

City doesn’t shoot… but there’s no need to panic

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City were by no means at their best against United, with many passes going astray in midfield and a lack of penetration in attack.

But we have experienced this story many times before.

City lost the Community Shield to Leicester in 2021 and Liverpool in 2022. They also lost on penalties to Arsenal last year, but in each of those seasons they were Premier League champions at the end of the campaign.

When it comes to assessing the final result of the season, the Community Shield plays little role as City are mainly focused on their first Premier League game of the season against Chelsea.

The fact that City were able to face a more or less full-strength Manchester United without Rodri, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker or John Stones in the squad is a positive sign, but says nothing about the season as a whole.

They have been far from their best and that needs to improve, but as more players come back and increase their playing time, I’m sure we’ll see the pattern of recent seasons return.

We are spoiled for choice when it comes to wingers

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Towards the end of last season, City started the vast majority of its games without any wingers.

Foden started on the left and came inside, while Bernardo often did the same from the other side to give the full-backs the opportunity to rush forward.

But given the great talent that City now has on the outside positions, it might seem that Guardiola is forced to play a system with his wingers.

Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku will both be pushing for minutes on the left wing, and the signing of Savinho (who impressed on his debut) and the rise of Oscar Bobb mean City have an ample supply of top-class wingers.

It will be difficult for Guardiola to allocate playing time in such a way that all options are met. However, this will lead to strong competition for places in attack and will give us quality in depth and on the bench, which can only be seen as a positive.

Are City’s penalty problems a thing of the past?

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Despite the brilliance of City’s teams under Guardiola, they all have problems with penalties.

But apart from Bernardo, all of City’s penalty takers took their attempts with confidence and composure.

After the Portuguese international missed City’s first penalty, Kevin de Bruyne, Haaland, Savinho, Ederson, Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias and finally Akanji converted their penalties brilliantly.

Haaland, Ederson, Dias and De Bruyne fired their penalties into the bottom corner after United goalkeeper Andre Onana dived early, while efforts from Nunes, Savinho and Akanji overwhelmed the goalkeeper through sheer power and precision.

The Brazilian goalkeeper himself saved an effort from Jadon Sancho and was lucky that Evans missed, giving City the win.

Overall, it was an excellent performance from the Blues in the penalty shootout. Players like Dias, Savinho and Nunes proved to be effective penalty takers, which will be a useful addition to the team, alongside regular penalty takers like Haaland, De Bruyne and Ederson.

It will never be a conscious strategy for City, but improving their penalty shootouts can only have a positive impact in their quest for success in the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League.