“They are dangerous to control” - Guardiola praises 3 Manchester United stars despite Manchester City winning Community Shield

Manchester United lost the FA Community Shield to Manchester City on Saturday, August 10, despite taking the lead in both regulation time and during the penalty shootout. After the game, City manager Pep Guardiola reserved praise for three United players: Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, and Alejandro Garnacho.

According to Guardiola, Manchester United are one of the best teams in the world at attacking in transitions, thanks to the aforementioned trio. In an interview with ITV Sport, he said:

“Both teams, both players… the ball was like a balloon. We lost a lot of balls, and in transition, they are one of the best teams in the world.”

Guardiola added:

“With Rashford, with Garnacho at the end, with the connection with especially Bruno [Fernandes]. They are so dangerous to control, but in the end, we had a good action to equalise, and in the penalties, we did it.”

With the victory over Manchester United, Manchester City have become the team with the fifth-most FA Community Shield titles (7) along with Tottenham Hotspur.

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Manchester United's Jadon Sancho and Jonny Evans missed their penalties to seal the victory for city rivals

2024 FA Community Shield - Source: Getty (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)

In the absence of Rasmus Hojlund due to injury, Manchester United started the match with a front-four of Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo, and Mason Mount. The Red Devils could've taken the lead in the 36th minute, but Rashford missed a presentable opportunity.

Alejandro Garnacho came on as a substitute in the second half and opened the scoring for the Red Devils in the 82nd minute. Bruno Fernandes played an incisive through ball to the Argentine youngster, who cut inside from the right wing and finished with his weaker left foot.

However, Bernardo Silva equalized for Manchester City in the 89th minute. The Portuguese midfielder headed home Oscar Bobb's pin-point cross to take the match to a penalty shoot-out.

The Red Devils took an early lead in the penalties when Bernardo Silva missed City's first shot while Bruno Fernandes converted. However, they couldn't hold the lead beyond the fourth round as Jadon Sancho missed his penalty and allowed City to come back into the game.

Ultimately, Jonny Evans missed his shot in the eighth round of the penalty shootout and provided a golden chance to Manuel Akanji. The Swiss defender made no mistakes from 12 yards and converted his shot to complete the comeback for Pep Guardiola's men.