Manchester United clinched the first piece of English silverware on Sunday with a 3-2 comeback win over big-spending Manchester City in the Community Shield. Paris Saint Germain and Bayern Munich, who also splashed the cash in the summer, went down to embarrassing defeats as the French and German leagues got underway.
Manchester United came back from 2-0 down to beat City 3-2 at Wembley to win the Community Shield, a week ahead of the new Premier League season where Roberto Mancini’s team are hoping their financial muscle will deliver a knockout blow to the traditional heavyweights.
City took advantage of poor goalkeeping from new signing David De Gea to score through Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko.
But United tore into City after the break, equalising thanks to goals from Chris Smalling and Nani before the Portuguese winger snatched the stoppage time winner. “I couldn’t believe we were 2-0 down at half-time after it looked like we were controlling the game but credit to the players, they kept their heads,” said United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
