Community Shield
Leicester City vs. Manchester United
Venue: Wembley
Date: Sunday, 7 August 2016
Kick-off: 16:00 BST
Manchester United secured a late victory in the 2016 Community Shield, defeating Leicester City with an 83rd minute winner.
It was Zlatan Ibrahimovic whose header grabs the headlines, converting Antonio Valencia’s cross, outjumping Wes Morgan in the process.
Jesse Lingard had given United a first half lead, only for Jamie Vardy to cancel that out soon after the restart, but United claimed the Shield in their first appearance back in the fixture since 2013.
United had some early joy down their left-hand side, with Anthony Martial beating Danny Simpson only to find the side netting, as Luke Shaw’s cross saw Wayne Rooney’s header comfortably held.
Shooting on the turn, Marouane Fellaini’s attempt was spilled but then retrieved by Kasper Schmeichel, as Shinji Okazaki saw a shot deflect wide and then a header strike the crossbar from the resulting corner at the other end.
With just over half an hour gone, Lingard picked up the ball just inside the Leicester half, and he breezed past three players before slotting a finish that found the bottom right-hand corner with a slight touch off of Schmeichel, at the same end he won the FA Cup for United back in May.
Andy King headed wide from a corner as Simpson saw yellow for bringing down Rooney, as half-time arrived at a sun-soaked Wembley.
Less than seven minutes into the second half, Fellaini’s short back pass allowed Vardy to latch onto the loose ball, round David De Gea, and tap home an easy finish to level proceedings.
A swift counter-attacking move, that worked so well for the Foxes last season, saw Ahmed Musa tee up Demarai Gray, only for the latter’s shot to be held with ease.
The same applied for Schmeichel, catching Rooney’s tame effort after Fellaini and teed up his captain, as Musa headed over from Robert Huth’s flick-on.
With eight minutes remaining and penalties looming, Antonio Valencia, who provided three assists via crosses against Galatasaray last weekend, supplied another delivery that was met by Ibrahimovic, whose header found the back of the net via the inside of the far post in front of the United supporters.
Leicester looked for a way back, but hardly threatened in the final exchanges as United held on to lift the Community Shield.
This victory makes it four in a row in the competition between the league and FA Cup winners, making it 21 victories in total – 17 outright, four shared.
Overall, it was a decent performance, with Eric Bailly particularly impressing in the back four, and United travel to Bournemouth next week with a winning mentality in a competitive fixture generated.
That game kicks off at 1:30pm BST next Sunday, as the Premier League returns after nearly three months away.
Line-ups:
Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Blind, Shaw (Rojo70); Carrick (Herrera 61), Fellaini; Lingard (Mata 63) (Mkhitaryan 90+3), Rooney (Schneiderlin 88), Martial (Rashford 70); Ibrahimovic.
Subs: Romero, Rojo, Mata, Herrera, Mkhitaryan, Schneiderlin, Rashford.
Manager: Jose Mourinho
Leicester City: Schmeichel; Simpson (Hernandez 63), Morgan, Huth (Ulloa 89), Fuchs (Schlupp 80); Mahrez, King (Mendy 63), Drinkwater, Albrighton (Gray 46); Okazaki (Musa 46), Vardy.
Subs: Zieler, Hernandez, Musa, Schlupp, Gray, Ulloa, Mendy.
Manager: Claudio Ranieri