Manchester City edge Sevilla on penalties to win UEFA Super Cup

Manchester City triumphed over Sevilla to win the 2023 UEFA Super Cup in a nervy penalty shootout at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens on Wednesday. Youssef En-Nesyri gave the Europa League winners the lead in the 25th minute with a towering header, but Manchester City hit back through Cole Palmer in the second half before eventually coming out on top in the shootout as defender Nemanja Gudelj struck the crossbar on the decisive penalty.

Having beaten Inter in the Champions League final in June to win their first European trophy, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City took on Europa League winners Sevilla in the continental curtain-raiser in Greece, aiming for a 15^th trophy under the Catalan manager.

City were without Kevin de Bruyne, John Stones, and Bernardo Silva for this tie due to injury and illness and were put under pressure early on by the intense Sevilla high press. Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bono made a couple of saves in the opening 20 minutes to deny Nathan Ake and Jack Grealish before the Spanish outfit took an early lead on 25 minutes through Youssef En-Nesyri’s towering header. The striker rose above Joskvo Gvardiol and Nathan Ake to meet Marcos Acuna’s cross and unleashed a thumping effort past Ederson, putting Sevilla 1-0 in front.

The Moroccan striker had another excellent chance to add to his tally in the second half but squandered a one-on-one chance against Ederson to give City a lifeline. The Champions League winners struggled to break down a stubborn Sevilla defence but Cole Palmer eventually broke the deadlock for Manchester City after the hour mark.

The young Englishman converted Rodri’s cross at the back post with a clever header to continue his fine form this season, adding to his goal in the Community Shield against Arsenal. Both sides had more chances to grab the lead in normal time, with En-Nesyri missing another golden opportunity, while Nathan Ake’s stoppage-time header was well met by Yassine Bono.

The deadlock over 90 minutes sent the game to penalties, where Manchester City put aside the pain of losing to Arsenal on spot-kicks ten days earlier to win their maiden Super Cup title. Erling Haaland converted the first penalty, and both sides maintained their 100% record before Serbian centre-back Nemanja Gudelj missed the tenth and final spot-kick of the shootout, firing his shot onto the bar to hand Manchester City the victory.