Manchester City ended their pre-season period with a victory at Wembley Stadium ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Facing off against Manchester United for the Community Shield, Pep Guardiola’s side ended the 90 minutes with a 1-1 draw before beating their rivals on penalties.
With the shootout score at 6-6, Manuel Akanji fired in the winning penalty to secure the victory for his side in their final game before the new league campaign gets underway.
After the final whistle, the Switzerland international shared some big praise for one of his City teammates who also played a vital role in the crucial shootout.
Manuel Akanji praises Ederson’s penalty ability after Community Shield victory
Speaking to ITV in a post-match interview after scoring the winning penalty, Akanji had this to say when asked about Ederson, who also scored in the shootout, and his ability from the spot.
He said: “He’s maybe the best penalty taker in our team, obviously Erling [Haaland] as well.
“I haven’t seen him miss for us, but Ederson as well, I know when he takes a penalty, it’s a goal.”
Ederson is deadly on penalties
Looking back to City’s second-leg Champions League quarter-final game against Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium last season, Ederson scored in that shootout which the Blues eventually lost.
Throughout the 90 minutes in the recent final against United, the Brazilian, who Danny Murphy said back in May is one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history, only made one save but was beaten by Alejandro Garnacho in the second half to see the Red Devils go 1-0 up.
Akanji wasn’t the only person to share how impressive Ederson is when it comes to taking penalties, as Guardiola also told ITV that he is one of the best in the squad.
Taking all of that on board, it seems likely that the shot-stopper will be involved in any future penalty shootouts City find themselves in.
