City miraculously did not burn Sevilla in the Super Cup! Guardiola’s ‘hangover’ lasted
Anatoly Romanov Aug 17, 2023 00:30 UTC Audio Version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The Spanish club forgave the British three times! And in the penalty shootout everything was decided by the last hit on the crossbar.
Champions League and Europa League winners traditionally competed for the UEFA Super Cup. Manchester City only beat Sevilla on penalties. Another trophy for Josep Guardiola.
The world’s most expensive new defender, Guardiol, made his first appearance at the Manchester City base. The most surprising thing is that the Croatian played on the left flank of the defense. Yoshko, of course, has experience playing in this position, but still he is more used to acting in the center. However, his almost namesake Guardiola taught us that he can make a pickup with any player. In the European Super Cup, center-back Akanji also became a defensive midfielder during the draw, giving the team more chances to pass the ball through the central axis under pressure from Sevilla.
However, José Luis Mendilibar’s team did not press as aggressively as they could. Perhaps, physically, the Sevilla players are not yet in optimal condition, and the rival is of such a level that you should not get carried away. But the Spaniards redid the positional defense well, narrowed in the center, blocked all directions of transmission. At the same time, the pace was low – both teams can play faster. Man City lacked De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva in the midfield, with them the ball would have moved better.
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Sevilla goalkeeper Bono may have played his last game for the Spanish team before a transfer to Saudi Arabia. In the first half, Man City hit three shots on goal. The one who was closest to the goal was Ake after a corner, but the Moroccan dragged. But Holland did not hit the goal. In the first half, Erling made seven touches of the ball, in the penalty area – only two. However, Bade could have been sent off for a foul on the Netherlands. The Sevilla central defender was lucky that for his infraction after losing his position to the Norwegian, the judge only gave him a yellow card.
Sevilla only hit the goal once before the break, but scored with one blow. It happened in the 25th minute, when Mendilibar’s team, famous for their side attacks, made just their second exact cross. It all started only with a pass from Bono, who simply passed forward through the center under pressure and did not expect that this pass would cut off two lines of the opponent at once. Akunya served to the best of his ability, En-Nesiri again showed his basketball jump. And from under whom did he score? Below Guardiola! Horvath wasn’t perfect in a few other episodes.
After the break, the English champions tried to switch to a higher speed, but time and time again they fell into the Sevillian trap. Mendilibar took advantage of Manchester City’s gap on the right as a result of the changes of possession (and Josep Guardiola’s men controlled the ball more than 70% of the time). Ocampos played as a left midfielder and because of his speed, Sevilla created chances. The Spanish should have scored seconds. What a chance ruined En-Nesiri! You can’t even call it Ederson’s salvation. The Moroccan striker barely hit the goalkeeper, even though all the doors were open.
Manchester City, after an hour into the game, outnumbered Sevilla four times in the number of crosses, but did not benefit from it until the 63rd minute. The game on the wings was predictable, Grealish and Palmer did not impress. However, it was a successful shot that brought the “citizens” a return goal. The effect was brought about by Rodri’s displacement to the left midfield, which suddenly became De Bruyne. Here is Guardiola’s universalism in action! Lamela shot Rodri in vain, and Acuña missed Palmer’s streak: the young midfielder scored with a header.
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After that, Manchester City, inspired by the scored goal, gave a hurricane segment and generally played enough for the winning goal. Although in terms of the number of shots on goal in the second half, the advantage of the British over the Spanish was minimal (4:3), the game advantage of Guardiola’s men was great. Sevilla were hooked, but somehow fought back and took the matter to a penalty shootout. Mendilibar’s team helped and the fact that the Netherlands did not have the best game. The Norwegian finished the game with 15 touches, including five in the box, and one shot (covered).
And in the penalty shootout, the teams hit it perfectly: nine out of nine without missing a miss. The goalkeepers did not make a single save. But with the final blow, Sevilla defender Gudel sent the ball over the bar and made Manchester City the winner of the European Super Cup.
