Manchester City 1-1 Sevilla (5-4 pens): City claim first Super Cup in shoot-out drama

Manchester City won their first ever UEFA Super Cup after beating Sevilla 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus.

Match in brief: City see off Sevilla on spot kicks

City, as expected, dominated possession from the start, with Cole Palmer's long-range strike and then a Nathan Aké header producing two fine early saves from Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

But against the run of play it was the Andalusians who took the lead on 25 minutes. Youssef En-Nesyri rose to meet Marcos Acuña's delicious cross from the left flank with a thumping header into the corner which gave Ederson no chance.

Los Rojiblancos had a glorious chance to double their lead shortly after half-time as Lucas Ocampos galloped down the left on the counterattack and played in En-Nesyri, but this time Ederson was equal to the forward's close-range effort.

José Luis Mendilibar's side were left to rue that miss when City equalised just after the hour, Palmer guiding an intelligent looping header over Bounou after being picked out at the far post by Rodri.

En-Nesyri was put through for another opportunity just moments after the goal, but once again he was foiled by Ederson from a tight angle when one-on-one.

From then on it was almost constant City pressure, the lively Palmer forcing Bounou into another good save with a curling effort that was tipped away as Pep Guardiola's outfit began to turn the screw.

But they were unable to find a second goal, and with no extra time it was left to a penalty shoot-out to decide the outcome. After the first nine penalties were converted Sevilla defender Nemanja Gudelj drilled his kick against the crossbar to give City victory.

Player of the Match presented by PlayStation®: Cole Palmer (Man City)

"He's a young, upcoming player who put in a good performance. He showed good dribbling skills and scored the equaliser for City to take the match to penalties."
UEFA Technical Observer Panel

Matthew Howarth, Man City reporter

City were made to work incredibly hard to secure their first silverware of the campaign. Guardiola's team were not at their fluent best, creating little in the second half until Palmer's well-placed header restored parity. The youngster's effort sparked them back into life, and they had opportunities to complete the turnaround in normal time. The 2022/23 treble winners were beaten on penalties by Arsenal in the FA Community Shield ten days ago but triumphed in this shoot-out to claim the trophy.

Graham Hunter, Sevilla reporter

Sevilla's beautiful, passionate anthem, roared out before every single one of their matches, talks of 'ancient languages' celebrating the birth of their club. Well, there's an ancient rule in football too. Do not, under any circumstances, squander a series of big goal chances, especially against powerful rivals. This was a night which showed Mendilibar that his team could match the European champions. Attitude, strategy, self-belief. But notwithstanding the quality of his goal, En-Nesyri unfortunately missed gilt-edged chances to seal the win.

Reaction from the camps

Pep Guardiola, Man City coach: "In the past, I've sometimes had a feeling about lack of motivation when the squad wins trophies a lot. But today, I didn't have that feeling. We are really pleased to have a trophy already. We missed one which could have let us do the full circle – the next one comes when we go [for the FIFA Club World Cup]."

Jack Grealish, Man City midfielder: "It was unbelievable. The manager made it so clear to us before the game how much he wants to win this trophy. You want to win everything anyway but that gave us more of an urge. This club has never won it. It's a brilliant feeling."

José Luis Mendilibar, Sevilla coach: "To make a good plan against a team as good as City is very complicated. I really wish we'd played higher up the pitch and put them under more pressure. When we had the chances to score the second goal, we didn't take them. But I really believe we played a good game, and we probably created more chances then them."

Joan Jordán, Sevilla midfielder: "After you lose a final, there's very few positives to say. We came here with the intention of winning – we had to give everything, and we did. The effort was superb and that's the type of fight we have to now show all season."

Key stats

• City have become the 25th club to lift the trophy and the first new winners since Bayern in 2013 – when they were coached by Guardiola.
• Sevilla are now on a six-game Super Cup losing streak after beating Barcelona 3-0 on their debut in 2006.
• City have lost only one of their last 12 UEFA club competition matches against Spanish clubs (W9 D2) and have suffered just one defeat in their last 19 European matches.
• The UEFA Super Cup has been won by a Spanish coach for the tenth time. Only Italian coaches (12) have won more titles.
• A total of four UEFA Super Cup finals have gone to penalties, all of them involving English teams. All four have been won by the UEFA Champions League holders.
• Pep Guardiola has become the first coach to win the UEFA Super Cup with three different teams after guiding Barcelona (2009, 2011) Bayern (2013) and Man City (2023) to victory.

Line ups

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Gvardiol, Aké; Rodri, Kovačić; Foden, Palmer (Álvarez 85), Grealish; Haaland

Sevilla: Bounou; Jesús Navas (Montiel 83), Badé, Gudelj, Acuña; Jordán, Rakitić; Ocampos, Óliver Torres (Juanlu 74), Lamela (Suso 90+3); En-Nesyri (Rafa Mir 90+3)