Mancity come from behind to be crowned champions

Manchester City crowned kings of Europe after winning the supercups on penalties against Sevilla.

Presented with the rare opportunity to claim a trophy that did not already have their name on it, City struggled to rise to the occasion in the first half and found themselves behind thanks to Youssef En-Nesyri's towering header.

The Sevilla striker went on to be denied by Ederson severally  in the second half and was made to pay for his wastefulness when Cole Palmer guided a header over Yassine Bounou to equalise.

Cole Palmer came into the side from the eleven that started at Burnley last Friday.

Rico Lewis, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez all made way.

John Stones and Ruben Dias who missed last Friday’s opening Premier League victory at Burnley, were both named on the bench.

Bernardo Silva was also absent through illness while Guardiola confirmed at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that De Bruyne faces a lengthy period on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of his hamstring injury at Turf Moor.

TEAMS

CITY: Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Gvardiol, Ake, Rodrigo, Kovacic, Foden, Palmer, Grealish, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Dias, Phillips, Stones, Laporte, Alvarez, Bobb, Gomez, Perrone, Lewis, McAtee

SEVILLA: Bounou, Ocampos, Gudelj, Bade, Jordán, Rakitić, En-Nesyri, Oliver Torres, Jesús Navas, Lamela, Acuña

Subs: Dmitrović (GK), Gattoni, Pedrosa, Montiel, Suso, Rafa Mir, Corona, Sow, Gómez, Juanlu, Kike Salas, Bueno

City improved as the game headed towards the final whistle and almost won in stoppage time when Nathan Ake forced a sharp save from Bounou.

But City got the win they craved for when Gudelj missed the decisive penalty of the shootout, striking the bar and handing Pep Guardiola a record-equalling fourth Super Cup.After finally claiming the elusive Champions League crown they had craved for the best part of the last decade, City ultimately made the most of being granted access to the exclusive Super Cup.

Ake and Jack Grealish tested Bounou in the first half but it was Sevilla who opened the scoring when they executed a perfect counter attack, culminating in En-Nesyri dominating Ake and Josko Gvardiol to power in Marcos Acuna's cross.

Gvardiol continued to endure a difficult evening on his first start for City - as did Erling Haaland, who completed just one pass during a virtually anonymous opening 45 minutes.The prolific striker was only marginally more involved in the second half, with En-Nesyri looking the more likely to find the net as Sevilla consistently exposed City when they turned over possession.

But with City beginning to bang their heads against the brick wall that was Sevilla's defence, it was left to academy product Palmer to reinvigorate his more experienced team-mates when he guided in Rodri's cross.

City finally began to look like themselves as they pinned Sevilla inside their own box for much of the final 20 minutes, but the Spanish side stood firm, with Bounou again saving from Ake, and Haaland seeing his only clear opening of the night charged down.

Haaland did find the net with the first penalty of the shootout - as did the next eight players to step up, meaning it was left to Gudelj to score and keep his side in the contest.

But the Serbia international struck the bar, meaning Sevilla have now lost in their last six Super Cup appearances, while City avoided a second successive shootout defeat following their loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield earlier this month