Manchester City 1, Sevilla 1 (European Super Cup – Manchester City win 5-4 on penalties)
Manchester City have won their first silverware of the season after beating Sevilla on penalties to lift the UEFA European Super Cup.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn doing so they became the sixth English side to win the trophy following Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Nottingham Forest – a record for one country.
But City had to face their second penalty shootout in three games this season after Cole Palmer’s second half strike had cancelled out Youssef En-Nesyri’s opener.
The game finished level but had to be decided from the penalty spot in a sultry Athens evening.
On a night of great penalties Nemanja Gudelj struck the crossbar with the last spot Sevilla kick to hand the trophy to City 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in normal time.
City’s goalscorer Cole Palmer had been one of four changes for City from the side that beat Burnley last Friday.
Bernardo Silva (who was unwell), Kevin De Bruyne (hamstring), Julian Alvarez, and Rico Lewis stepped down from the side and were replaced by Palmer, Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish, and Josko Gvardiol (who was making his full debut for City).
And despite early pressure from City, Sevilla took a first half early lead through a towering header by Moroccan forward Youssef En-Nesyri after he got on the end of a Marcos Acuna cross ahead of Nathan Ake and Gvardiol after 25 minutes.
City dominated the play but were creatively blunted without the injured Kevin De Bruyne – ruled out for potentially months by a serious hamstring injury – and played like a side lacking full match fitness although they had good early chances through Cole Palmer, Nathan Ake, and Jack Grealish.
As well as scoring early on, En-Nesyri should have buried City with a succession of second half chances but Pep Guardiola’s team held firm and 21-year-old Academy graduate Cole Palmer scored his second goal of the season after getting on the end of Rodri’s cross to score a header from a tight angle after 63 minutes.
And after seeing out the draw, City’s five penalty takers – Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Kovacic, Grealish, and Kyle Walker all scored theirs while Gudelj’s miss saw City begin their trophy celebrations again as City surpassed United’s Treble feat by lifting the Super Cup in the following season.