Manchester City have won the UEFA Super Cup, beating Sevilla on penalties in Athens.
City struggled for a lot of tonight’s game, with the conditions making it tough for both sets of players.
City, usually so slick, were not great on the ball, and the team found it difficult to fashion chances in the absence of Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva.
Sevilla defended really well throughout.
And they also posed a decent threat on the counter.
Youssef En-Nesyri gave them the lead in the first-half with a cracking header, getting between Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol.
But Cole Palmer, who scored a brilliant goal against Arsenal in the Community Shield, popped up midway through the second half to equalise with a back post header.
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The game would go to penalties, and both sides were absolutely brilliant from 12 yards.
Except for Nemanji Gudelj, who crashed his penalty off the crossbar to hand City the trophy.
Cole Palmer sent Pep Guardiola a message tonight
Tonight was a big night for Palmer.
Pep Guardiola started him on the right, and it was a chance for him to stake his claim.
Kevin De Bruyne is injured for the foreseeable, and City are in need of someone to step up and show some creativity.
Of course, Palmer would not be a replacement for the Belgian.
But City have also lost Riyad Mahrez. And Palmer feels as though he could be a replacement for the Algerian.
He was excellent tonight and really grew in confidence as the game went on. He carried the ball well, and put some great balls into the box.
Palmer has struggled for minutes at the Etihad. But now could be his opportunity.
Palmer should be kept
City should now look to keep Palmer, who has described as an ‘exceptional talent’ by Joleon Lescott just before tonight’s game.
Previously he has struggled to make an impression. But that could well be down to him just not getting a run of starts.
There has been talk of City going out and signing a new winger. And talk of other clubs, like Brighton and West Ham being interested.
But surely, Palmer has done enough in these opening weeks of the new season to show that he can be the man moving forwards.