LONDON: This time, Manuel Akanji made no mistake from the penalty spot.
After a 1-1 draw, Manchester City beat Manchester United 7-6 in a penalty shootout to win the Community Shield at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, with Akanji scoring the clinching penalty.
The Switzerland defender had different emotions after his last shootout — at the European Championship last month when he was the only player to not convert a penalty kick in a loss to England in the quarterfinals. On that occasion, Akanji took Switzerland’s first attempt.
“I let the others shoot first,” Akanji said, “because obviously when you miss a penalty, you don’t go into the next one with that much confidence.”
City ended a run of three straight losses in the traditional curtain-raiser to the English soccer season, between the winners of last season’s Premier League (City) and FA Cup (United). Pep Guardiola’s team had been beaten by Leicester, Liverpool and Arsenal over the past three years.
And it goes some way to avenging the loss to United in the FA Cup final 77 days ago, when City were beaten 2-1 to miss out on another league-and-cup double.
It looked like United would be claiming another Wembley win over their neighbor when second-half substitute Alejandro Garnacho cut inside and drove a low shot inside the near post in the 82nd minute.
City equalized in the 89th when Bernardo Silva, also a substitute, headed in from Oscar Bobb’s cross.
The game went straight to penalties — there is no extra time in the Community Shield — and Silva saw his shot saved by Andre Onana off City’s first attempt.
Jadon Sancho failed off United’s fourth kick as Ederson tipped the shot onto the post. It was more penalty heartache for Sancho, who was one of three England players to miss in the shootout loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
United defender Jonny Evans, the team’s eighth penalty-taker, chipped his effort over the crossbar to give Akanji the chance to win it for City.
Against England in Dusseldorf, the center back placed his kick to his right and had it saved by Jordan Pickford, but this time he lifted it down the middle and under the bar.
While United fielded a close-to-full-strength team, City were still without a raft of key players following the Euro 2024 final between Spain and England. Rodri, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones were all missing, while Kevin De Bruyne started on the bench and was a late substitute.
“We’re happy to start the season in the way we have and obviously there’s a lot to come,” said Ruben Dias, who was City’s captain for the match. “It’s another trophy and we’re always happy to collect trophies. We’ve just had a long season and we still don’t have a full squad back but it is very good for us to start this way.”
Guardiola has now won 18 trophies — including the Community Shield three times — since joining City in 2016.
Akanji scores clinching penalty as Man City beat Man United in shootout to win Community Shield
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Akanji scores clinching penalty as Man City beat Man United in shootout to win Community Shield
- “I let the others shoot first,” Akanji said, “because obviously when you miss a penalty, you don’t go into the next one with that much confidence”
- City ended a run of three straight losses in the traditional curtain-raiser to the English soccer season
History-chasing Djokovic and Alcaraz to meet in Australian Open final after epic semifinal wins
- Carlos Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam
- Novak Djokovic is aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic finally beat one of the two men who have been blocking his path to an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles title when he edged Jannik Sinner in five sets Friday to reach the Australian Open final.
To get that coveted No. 25, he’ll next have to beat the other: top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
They’re both chasing history in Sunday’s championship decider, with the 22-year-old Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam.
The top-ranked Alcaraz also had to come through a grueling five-setter. He fended off No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in a match that started in the warmth of the afternoon Friday and, 5 hours and 27 minutes later, became the longest semifinal ever at the Australian Open.
That pushed the start of Djokovic’s match against Sinner back a couple of hours, and the 38-year-old Djokovic finally finished off a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win just after 1:30 a.m.
“It feels surreal,” Djokovic said of his 4-hour, 9-minute triumph. “Honestly, it feels like winning already tonight. I know I have to come back … and fight the No. 1 of the world. I just hope that I’ll have enough gas to stay toe-to-toe with him.
“That’s my desire. Let the God decide the winner.”
Djokovic was at the peak of his defensive powers, fending off 16 of the 18 breakpoints he faced against the two-time defending Australian Open champion. It ended a run of five losses to Sinner, and a run of four semifinal exits for Djokovic at the majors.
“Had many chances, couldn’t use them, and that’s the outcome,” Sinner said. “Yeah, it hurts, for sure.”
Alcaraz and Sinner have split the last eight major titles between them since Djokovic won his last title at the 2023 US Open.
Nobody knows how to win more at Melbourne Park than Djokovic. He has won all 10 times he’s contested the Australian Open final.
He said he saw Alcaraz after the first of the semifinals was over and he congratulated him on reaching his first final at Melbourne Park.
“He said sorry to delay,” Djokovic later explained. “I told him ‘I’m an old man, I need to go earlier to sleep!”
Djokovic, aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title, was kept up late.
“I’m looking forward to meeting him on Sunday,” he said.
Final 4
With the top four seeds reaching the Australian Open men’s semifinals for just the fifth time, Day 13 was destined to produce some drama. The season-opening major had been a relatively slow burn, until the back-to-back five-setters lasting a combined 9 hours and 36 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev, the 2025 runner-up, surpassed the 2009 classic between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco as the longest ever Australian Open semifinal.
Medical timeout
Alcaraz was as close as two points from victory in the third set but was hampered by pain in his upper right leg and his medical timeout became contentious.
He said initially it didn’t feel like cramping because the pain seemed to be just in one muscle, the right adductor, and he needed an assessment.
He navigated the third and fourth sets and was behind in the fifth after dropping serve in the first game. He kept up the pressure but didn’t break back until Zverev was serving for the match. He then won the last four games.
“I think physically we just pushed each other to the limit today. We pushed our bodies to the limit,” Alcaraz said. “Just really, really happy to get the win, that I came back. I just rank this one in the top position of one of the best matches that I have ever won.”
Believe
Asked how he was able to recover despite being so close to defeat, Alcaraz admitted he was struggling but said kept “believing, believing, all the time.”
“I’ve been in these situations, I’ve been in these kinds of matches before, so I knew what I had to do,” he said. “I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did it. I fought until the last ball.”
Zverev was demonstrably upset about the time out out in the third set, taking it up with a tournament supervisor, when his rival was given the three-minute break for treatment and a massage on the leg.
After the match, he maintained that he didn’t think it was right, but he didn’t think it should overshadow the match.
“I don’t want to talk about this right now, because I think this is one of the best battles there ever was in Australia,” he said “It doesn’t deserve to be the topic now.”
