By Adedapo Adesanya
Reigning English Premier League champions, Manchester City, announced their readiness to defend the title for the third straight season with the Community Shield penalty shoot-out win over Liverpool after a 1-1 draw at Wembley on Sunday.
The Blue side of Manchester won the match over their closest rival to the title last season, Liverpool, after they beat the Merseyside team 5-4 on penalties to lift what would be their second consecutive Community Shield trophy.
Pep Guardiola’s back-to-back league champions opened the scoring after 12 minutes when Raheem Sterling’s shot squirmed under Liverpool goalkeeper, Alisson.
Liverpool came close in the second half when Virgil van Dijk’s effort hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced on to the goal line and clear, while Sterling spurned an opportunity when through one-on-one with Alisson.
With 13 minutes remaining, Liverpool substitute, Joel Matip, made it 1-1 after nodding in a Van Dijk’s cross.
Man City defencer, Kyle Walker, produced an extraordinary acrobatic clearance from Mohamed Salah’s goal-bound header late on, allowing Gabriel Jesus to net the winning spot-kick in the shootout after Georginio Wijnaldum’s penalty was saved by Claudio Bravo after successful efforts from Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds get the Premier League season under way when they host Norwich City at Anfield on Friday 9 August, while Man City travel to West Ham United a day later.