Pep Guardiola rubs salt into Man Utd's wounds with Community Shield admission

Pep Guardiola saw Manchester City claim another Community Shield at Wembley with the Catalan admitting his champion outfit were far from their best ahead of the Premier League starting

Pep Guardiola enjoyed piling on the pain for Erik ten Hag after Manchester City came back to deliver a Community Shield kick in the guts to their biggest rivals.

The Premier League champions looked set for a fourth successive defeat in the showpiece opener at Wembley when Alejandro Garnacho fired United ahead eight minutes from time. But Bernardo Silva took the contest to penalties with a last-gasp equaliser - and City prevailed in the shoot-out.

Guardiola said: “I enjoyed starting the season against our rival in Manchester - and to win a title is good. We are really pleased. We could have lost today.

"We were close to losing with minutes left. I saw many things today that I liked. The first 35 minutes were beyond excellent.‌ Many players are still on holidays so we are far from our best. But it is better starting by winning a trophy.”

‌United boss Ten Hag was devastated that his team failed to see the game through. He said: “It’s a tough result to take. It hurts in your stomach. You have to feel pain and we have to hurt. We have to take this belief in to the league. But feeling the pain in a good. I saw the positives and we played well.”

Jadon Sancho and Jonny Evans missed from the spot for United. For Sancho it evoked painful memories of his failed attempt for England in the final of Euro 2020 at the same end of the stadium.

Ten Hag added: “Jadon is a good penalty taker. I had no doubts about letting him take one - and he will take penalties in the future.”

Manuel Akanji netted the winning kick just a month after the Swiss defender missed the crucial penalty in a shoot-out against England in the quarter-final of the Euros.

Guardiola said: “Manuel missed it in the Euros - so I love he had the personality to take it.”

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.