Manchester City have won the early bragging right to the new season after defeating Liverpool via penalties to clinch the Community Shield title on Sunday at Wembley Stadium.
The teams paraded a full-strength squad with players such as Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmiho, Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Allison Becker for Liverpool. While City had David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, and Bernardo Silva in the starting line up.
Both teams started the encounter with great attacking pace but couldn’t convert some of the few goal-scoring chances that came their way in the early stages of the match.
However, Raheem Sterling netted the opening goal of the encounter in the 12th minute with a simple tap into the delight of the team manager, Pep Guardiola, and City fans.
The goal sparked more life to the game as the Reds pushed for an equalizer but couldn’t break down the City’s defence.
The first half ended with Manchester City controlling most of the possessions while Liverpool kept the game within touch.
However, at the resumption of the second half, Liverpool took the game to the reigning Premier League title holder but failed to make most of their goal scoring chances count.
Liverpool’s efforts were finally rewarded in the 78th minute after Joel Matip headed home into the back of the net to level score for the Champions League winner.