Manchester City beat Manchester United on penalties to win the FA Community Shield last Saturday, August 10. The match had ended in a 1-1 draw after the stipulated 90 minutes. United took the lead through Alejandro Garnacho, but substitute Bernardo Silva equalized to bring the Cityzens back into the game.
The Cityzens will begin their Premier League campaign against Chelsea on Sunday, August 18. They have won the league title for the last four successive seasons, which is a phenomenal achievement.
Manchester City Fielded Young Team for Match
City did not start with all their regular players in the Community Shield match. Rodri, Phil Foden, Bernardo, Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker did not start for them, with the likes of James McAtee, Nico O’Reilly, Rico Lewis, Mateo Kovačić and Oscar Bobb getting the nod instead.
McAtee was very mobile throughout the match and impressed with his work-rate, but the finesse and accuracy in his passes were not quite there. Bobb registered an assist with his accurate cross minutes before the final whistle but, otherwise, Jérémy Doku was the more effective of the two Manchester City wingers out there.
O’Reilly and Lewis were decent enough and helped their team retain possession a number of times. However, City continued to miss Rodri’s ability to venture forward and play crucial passes to the forwards.
They did miss Bernardo, de Bruyne and Foden upfront, too. The first two of the triumvirate got introduced in the second half, but did not get much game time on the day. However, Bernardo’s impact was important enough to get the Cityzens the equalizer.
Erling Haaland, the winner of the Golden Boot for the last couple of seasons in Premier League, however, failed to impress with his hold-up play. His apparent inability to get the wingers involved affected City’s attacking edge adversely.
The Cityzens Still Dominated Possession
Pep Guardiola’s team stayed true to its style despite fielding a second-string team. They kept dominating the initial phases of play with their flurry of passes. For the initial half an hour or so, Manchester City dominated ball-possession to keep the pressure on Manchester United.
However, as United gradually grew into the game, the dominance of the Cityzens dwindled somewhat. The Red Devils played with Bruno Fernandes as the false nine and had enough presence in the central areas to make vital interceptions in the middle third.
Still, Manchester City seemed to be the more dominant team overall despite Manchester United being at full-strength. Most of the youngsters gave a good account of themselves against another top Premier League side.
Guardiola will need at least some of the youngsters in his squad to perform well in the long season that lies ahead. Bobb got a look in a few matches last season and might evolve to be the next important player in Manchester City’s attacking set-up. However, a recent leg-injury should hamper his cause for the next season.
Still, if the likes of McAtee, Lewis and O’Reilly manage to hone their skills a bit, they might be able to start giving competition to the established stars for places in the starting line-up.