Struggling to find an equalizer in official time, but Man City was confident in the penalty shootout with all 5 successful attempts, pushing pressure on Sevilla, causing Gudelj to miss the last leg, deciding the number. European Super Cup match.
The absence of playmaker Kevin De Bruyne and three pillars of Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, John Stones was not the main reason why Man City played extremely poorly for most of the match at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece. the morning of August 17. It seems that the defeat at the hands of Arsenal a few days ago in the English Super Cup still haunts Man City and the excessive caution makes the legs of Pep Guardiola’s players as heavy as lead…
The fact that rookie Josko Gvardiol was named in the starting line-up did not make City’s defense more solid when the Croatian midfielder had not yet integrated with the play style of his teammates. In the first few minutes of the match, Man City’s goal was continuously surrounded by the finishing phase of Erik Lamela or Lucas Ocampos …
The English team responded equally strongly after being overwhelmed in the first few minutes. Unfortunately, all of Nathan Ake, Josko Gvardiol and Jack Grealish did not make good use of the opportunities created in front of goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
The turning point of the match came in the 25th minute from the not-so-dangerous situation of Marcos Acuna on the left wing of Sevilla. The ball was crossed into the center and Youssef En-Nesyri bounced higher than the central defender Ake-Gvardiol, headed the ball into the net of goalkeeper Ederson. 1-0 for Seville.
When the ball rolled back at the beginning of the second half, Man City continued to “give” the field to Sevilla, which was very confusing, and almost had to pay again in the 50th minute. Lucas Ocampos eliminated Kyle Walker and pitched the ball very quickly deep into the field. of Man City and then passed a cross as ordered for Youssef En-Nesyri. Facing goalkeeper Ederson and the immense goal, the Moroccan striker shot straight into the opponent’s range, missing the opportunity to double the gap, which was extremely unfortunate.
Youssef En-Nesyri will still have to regret a lot about his extravagance because only 13 minutes later, Man City had an equalizer from an aerial phase. Rodri crossed the ball from the left and while Erling Haaland moved in the opposite direction, young striker Cole Palmer picked the right spot, and headed the ball into the net of goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
The equalizer helped Man City play more confidently, but the attacking efforts of the Champions League champions could not pass through a solid defense with the last stop Yassine Bounou of the Europa League-winning team – Sevilla.
The two sides have to step right into the penalty shootout when the official time is over. If all 5 Man City players – Haaland, Alvarez, Kovacic, Grealish, Walker – all successfully completed their shots, the Sevilla side, one of the best players in the match, Nemanja Gudelj, missed the 5th round, offering Victory for Man City.
Winning the European Super Cup for the first time, Man City has a fourth title in 2023 after the “triple” of the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League titles. Pep Guardiola’s army still has the opportunity to win a fifth title if they play well at the Club World Cup at the end of the year.
For Pep alone, this is the fourth time the Spaniard has won the European Super Cup, a very interesting little record in his career. He is also the first coach in history to win 3 European Super Cups with 3 different teams, including Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Man City.
