Manchester City spoil Manchester United's party as Marcus Rashford regrets Community Shield blunder

Manuel Akanji scored Manchester City's winning penalty in a tense Community Shield shootout against Manchester United on Saturday. The defeat, which followed a 1-1 draw in normal time at Wembley, will be a blow to Marcus Rashford, who missed two great chances to put United in control.

Erik ten Hag's Red Devils showed their fans they could come back from behind this season with a superb display in which they regularly dismantled City. But Pep Guardiola's reigning Premier League champions dug deep late on to open their 2024/25 trophy account at the first attempt.

Here, Express Sport presents you with four key points of the competition…

Man City spoil Man Utd's parade

It took until around 30 minutes for Manchester United's 4-2-4 to start to threaten, and by then James McAtee had already hit the post for City. Ten Hag's side capitalised on Amad Diallo's good first-half chances by finding the back of the net through Bruno Fernandes after the break, although his spectacular effort was ruled out for offside.

Alejandro Garnacho looked to have scored the Red Devils' winner with less than 10 minutes remaining after he clipped Ederson in the box. But superb work from Oscar Bobb at the other end allowed Bernardo Silva to head home an equaliser in the 89th minute.

With the game heading straight into a penalty shootout, Bernardo and Jadon Sancho both had their spot-kicks saved before Jonny Evans headed over and Akanji made it 7-6, spoiling United's mood after what was an impressive performance.

Rashford must have regretted his Wembley blunders

United's attacking play was lively and incisive at Wembley, but Rashford may not have been too pleased with his performance. Posted on the left, he provided little defensive assistance to the out-of-place full-back Lisandro Martinez and failed to put the finishing touches to an electric first-half display.

Rashford missed another golden opportunity in the 75th minute, receiving a ball on the other side of the box and tripping over the base of the post, with the miss ultimately proving costly.

Haaland leaves the field

The Community Shield has not been kind to Erling Haaland individually. He had a poor performance against Liverpool two years ago and failed to score in the penalty shootout defeat to Arsenal last year. Things would surely improve against United.

Not really. Haaland's performance is a perfect example of why he attracts criticism despite his exceptional goalscoring record. While some of the blame for his lack of contribution lies with those tasked with creating chances, the forward was a passenger from the first to the last whistle at Wembley, although his rating rebounded slightly by converting in the penalty shootout.

Amad sends a message

Amad Diallo is tasked with earning Ten Hag’s trust this season. He has been used sparingly in 2023/24, making his start on the right flank at Wembley a valuable opportunity to show the Dutchman exactly what he is capable of.

Diallo played a key role in United's first two chances on goal; firstly opening up City's left side with a deft run, before orchestrating a neat one-two with Casemiro and playing an unanswered ball across the penalty area to Mason Mount.

The youngster seemed a little embarrassed to be substituted before the hour mark, although his replacement, Garnacho, eventually found the back of the net.