Manchester City won the 2024 FA Community Shield, defeating Manchester United 7-6 in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in normal time. It is the first time City has won the top-flight curtain raiser since beating Liverpool 5-4 on penalties in 2019, and it ends a three-year losing streak in this fixture (2021, 2022, and 2023). Manchester United substitute Alejandro Garnacho appeared to have won the Community Shield when he cut inside and blasted home a superb effort with only eight minutes remaining in normal time.

However, that was before fellow replacement Bernardo Silva came on in the 89th minute to head home Oscar Bobb’s cross, only eight minutes after entering the game. For the fourth time in six seasons, the Community Shield went to a penalty shootout, with Manuel Akanji capitalising on Jonny Evans’ miss by converting his crucial spot-kick to win 7-6 and give Pep Guardiola’s team their first title of the 2024/25 season.

Talking Point: Winning is a habit.

While the FA Community Shield may not be considered a huge honour, it is a match that both teams wanted to win. The incentives were there: a Manchester derby, the top-flight season opener, and an opportunity for Manchester City to avenge their FA Cup final humiliation to their rivals three months earlier. Of course, whether or not City won today had no bearing on how they would perform in the 2024/25 season; after all, City had lost all three Community Shields prior to today (2021, 2022, and 2023) and still achieved great success, but make no mistake, winning is a habit, and Pep Guardiola, of all people, will believe that, and he will undoubtedly look to add more silverware to the cabinet in the 2024/25 season. Player of the Match: Oscar Bobb (Manchester City) Manchester City’s 21-year-old was just fantastic today at Wembley Stadium. It was the type of confident, secure performance with and without the ball that demonstrated why Pep Guardiola is allegedly willing to put a lot of faith and trust in the player this season. Bobb only started two Premier League matches last season (14 appearances), but if he continues to perform as well as he did tonight, he will play a far larger role this season. His assist for Bernardo Silva’s equaliser was a magical moment, and it was well deserved given his performance today.