Leicester record another Wembley triumph over top opposition
Kelechi Iheanacho scored a late penalty against his old employers as FA Cup winners Leicester City beat Premier League champions Manchester City 1-0 in the Community Shield season curtain-raiser yesterday.
The victory was the second in a row at London’s Wembley Stadium for the Foxes, who beat favourites Chelsea by the same scoreline in the May FA Cup final but finished fifth in the Premier League.
The game appeared set for a penalty shootout when second-half substitute Iheanacho went down after a lunge by Nathan Ake in the 89th minute, and then fired into the top corner from the spot.
“I’ve been practising penalties. I missed one last season so I’ve been practising in preseason. I had just one thing in my mind: just shoot at an angle and hit it hard, and that’s what I did,” he said.
Jack Grealish had earlier come off the bench for Manchester City but there was to be no dream debut for the England midfielder in his first game as the Premier League’s most expensive player.
Signed for £100m, Grealish came on in the 64th minute in a left-forward position but was unable to make the breakthrough on a wet evening in London.
With senior players rested or recovering from injuries, City manager Pep Guardiola fielded an unfamiliar line-up with five academy starlets in his squad and Sam Edozie and Cole Palmer starting.
Leicester, who suffered a major blow earlier in midweek when French defender Wesley Fofana broke his leg in a friendly, were close to full strength with evergreen striker Jamie Vardy up front.
Vardy, 34, came closest to scoring in the first half when a hooked shot was pushed onto the post by goalkeeper Zack Steffen just before the break.
Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel also tipped a dangerously dipping Ilkay Gundogan free kick over the bar in the seventh minute.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola earlier said the club can take Grealish to another level after the England midfielder’s Premier League record signing from Aston Villa.
Guardiola described the versatile Grealish as an “incredibly huge talent” and said he could play him up front, mainly on the left side, or as a winger, attacking midfielder or striker.
“I don’t have any doubts that he will suit good in the way we play and his desire to become an exceptional player, or even better than he already is,” said the Spaniard.
“He arrives with incredibly positive things ... he has some of the best years of his career after making an exceptional contribution at Aston Villa, because he did amazingly there. “He can get to another level with us.” Grealish will wear the No 10 shirt vacated by City’s long-serving striker Sergio Aguero, who has joined Barcelona.
Guardiola said City needed new players to stay fresh after so much success.
“When a team in the last four or five years won a lot, which we cannot deny, and we raise our level in Europe ... we need new players.” —
He has some of the best years of his career. He can get to another level Pep Guardiola Manchester City manager