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| photo via manutd.com |
- by Hiten Mandalia, writing from West London
Ferguson started with two of his new signings, with De Gea in goal and Ashley Young playing on the left side of midfield, while City's £38m signing, Sergio Aguero had to settle for a place on the bench. They started with Dzeko and the ever controversial Balotelli in attack.
Manchester United started the better of the two teams, having most of the possession and creating more chances then their opponents, while City lacked energy and enthusiasm. However, they took the lead with a Lescott header from SIlva's free kick. It was totally unexpected as City weren't much in the game. Seven minutes later on the stroke of half time, Dzkeo scored with a fierce shot from 20 yards out. The United defenders didn't close him down early enough, while Dzeko saw De Gea off his line. The ball swerved passed the United goalkeeper right at the last, and City went into the break leading 2-0.
With City's good looking defence, people had expected them to restrict Man United form coming back. However, with United being United with their never say attitude, both sets of supporters knew what to expect.
United made some changes in the second half, with Jones, Cleverly, and Rafael coming up, as United had an average age of 23 when they started the second half.
They started the second half like a bullet. They went straight for attack, as you'd expect from United. Seven minutes into the second half, they got their first goal. Young being the creator from a free kick, with Smalling tapping it past Joe Hart, He won't have an easier finish all season. The players and fans could sense the confidence growing that they could get back into the game. Minutes later, a sensational move allowed Nani to equalise. Some beautiful inter-changing, one touch play between Rooney, Cleverly and Nani at the edge of the City box allowed Man United to walk through the heart of the City defence before Nani placed it into the middle of the net. It was a goal Barcelona and Brazil would have been proud of.
Despite all the millions they've spent, none of the City players produced a display that anyone associated with the club could have been happy with. They didn't create many chances in the second half, but credit goes to United from preventing them from happening. They didn't have any real enthusiasm about the game and they played some boring football at times. With the players at their disposal, one would have expected them to play with some spark and flair. Or it could have come down to Mancini's Italian mentality.
To add, Balotelli showed once again the immature kid that he is. As soon as he was substituted, he went straight to the dressing room, but he did come back to watch the rest of the game. He needs to sort his attitude out before the manager, the board and the fans get sick of him.
Deep into injury time, Man City had a free kick and they could have won it, but Rooney cleared it into the City half which allowed Nani to chase the ball like it was it's prey. His constant chasing forced Kompany to make a mistake, which then put Nani through on goal, one on one with Joe Hart. He went round the goalkeeper and scored the winner in the 94th minute. The players, the bench and the fans went ecstatic into what proved to be one of the best Community Shield's in years.
The joy on everyone's face's at Man United showed that this was more then just a friendly. It's given them a boost going into the new season believing that they can retain their title.
All of United's players looked impressive, as well as the youngsters. De Gea didn't have the best of first half's, but it may have been down to nerves, but he gained his composure in the second half. On the other hand, the City players looked dysfunctional at times and they lacked that cutting edge. Despite that, they will be a force to be reckoned with come start of the season
It was typical Ferguson, typical United but with some new faces. Despite the new faces, the never say die attitude will never be erased from Old Trafford.
