Video: Liverpool 1 – 1 Manchester City* [Community Shield] Highlights 2019
Manchester City set the tone for the coming Premier League campaign after beating last season’s closest rivals Liverpool on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Wembley to lift the Community Shield on Sunday afternoon.
Chances fell for both sides in the opening exchanges but it was City who drew first blood through Raheem Sterling following a training-ground routine from Kyle Walker’s set piece.
The ball was fed wide to Kevin De Bruyne, who headed into the centre for David Silva to flick on for the unmarked Sterling, whose effort from close range squirmed under the body of Alisson.
From there on in it was mostly one-way traffic, with the Citizens comfortably keeping hold of the ball and limiting the Reds to the occasional counter-attack that failed to produce any meaningful opportunities ahead of the half time whistle.
The Reds grew into the game and began finding the spaces from which they hurt their opponents. It looked as though that pressure had told, as Virgil van Dijk’s improvised effort from an inswinging corner hit the ground and struck the crossbar, bouncing onto the line and somehow to safety.
Seconds later, Salah cut in from the right and fired a low effort towards the near post, but he too saw his effort hit the woodwork and bounce to safety. Almost straight up the other end, Sterling had a moment to forget as he dallied in possession when one-on-one and Alisson comfortably collected the ball to deny City a second.
The equaliser did arrive, albeit in unusual fashion, as Van Dijk guided Jordan Henderson’s free kick across the box for his central defensive partner Joel Matip to nod home. Naby Keita forced a save from Bravo minutes later with Liverpool very much in the ascendancy.
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A rip-roaring finale to the game appeared to have found a winner, as Salah’s goalbound lob over Bravo looked destined to nestle into the net only for an outrageous overhead Walker clearance to stun all inside Wembley and force penalties.
Georginio Wijnaldum was the only one of the nine takers to see his effort saved, leaving Gabriel Jesus to fire home and hand City the first trophy of the season.
