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United win the Shield in thriller | Manchester United came from behind to erase a two-goal deficit and defeat bitter rivals Manchester City 3-2 to lift the Community Shield in front of over 77,000 at Wembley.
In a game that easily matched the intensity of a Premier League fixture, both teams played extremely physical from the very beginning. However, in the end, only one kept on going when it mattered most.
Amidst a series of slide tackles and strong challenges from behind, Manchester City also found a way to strike twice in the first half, with a Joleon Lescott header and a belter from Edin Dzeko giving the FA Cup holders a resounding 2-0 lead.
United’s 20-year old summer signing, David De Gea, could do little to stop the two goals and at the interval, City had made it clear how badly they wanted to beat United.
Unfortunately for Roberto Mancini’s men, though, the opposition happened to be much different from just another outfit trailing 2-0 at half-time.
They were the Premier League champions Manchester United, after all, and with Sir Alex Ferguson delivering the motivational speech in the dressing room, it was almost certainly expected that the Red Devils would be a totally different team in the second half.
A momentary lack of concentration from City helped United’s Chris Smalling take advantage to convert a corner early in the second period.
With City’s advantage cut into a half, their opponents now had all the momentum and as they frequently do, the Devils wasted no time in completing the comeback.
Right before the hour-mark, a beautiful exchange of passes led to Nani facing Joe Hart one-on-one, albeit at an acute angle. But rather than driving it past the England number one, the Portuguese winger chipped it clinically over the goalkeeper to bring his side level.
City seemed deflated and for the next half hour or so, United remained in firm control, showing much more drive and energy.
However, with the Citizens fighting to avoid further leakages in the back, we seemed to be heading towards a mouth-watering penalty shoot-out featuring two of the league’s most promising stoppers in De Gea and Hart.
With Edin Dzeko trying to sneak in a late winner, though, things suddenly changed in a heartbeat. A long clearance from the United defense led to Nani stealing the ball away from a confused Vincent Kompany.
The scorer of United’s equalizer then became the scorer of the team’s winner merely seconds later as he rounded Hart and slotted calmly into an open goal.
There were celebrations all around the red parts of Wembley; celebrations that the City fans have long endured and no longer have the capacity to tolerate.
Nevertheless, it was a great demonstration of support from the fans wearing blue as they waved massive flags in support of their side. And come to think of it, City’s performance was good enough to send the message that they intended to deliver.
Aside from a few lapses in the second half, the team that is arguably the biggest threat to United’s domestic supremacy lived up to its billing by nearly stunning the English champions.
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Nani was absolutely brilliant, and Cleverley showed that United’s midfield will go on…with or without Sneijder.