The FA Community Shield Sponsored by McDonalds
Manchester United 0 - 0 Portsmouth
Manchester United win 3 - 1 on penalties
Attendance: 84,808
For the second season in succession, Manchester United have won The FA Community Shield on penalties, after their encounter with Portsmouth finished 0-0 in normal time.
Man of the match, Carlos Tevez, the evergreen Ryan Giggs and midfielder Michael Carrick all converted their spot kicks to give United their first piece of silverware of the new campaign. This was United's thirteenth victory in the season's traditional curtain raiser and it has ensured they began this season as they did the last.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be delighted that his side were in control for the majority and will feel they should have won the match in 90 minutes. The Premier League Champions welcomed back captain Gary Neville, who missed the majority of last season through injury, and it was he and his Portsmouth counterpart, Sol Campbell, who led the sides oout at Wembley Stadium to get the new season underway, in the 100th edition of The FA Community Shield.
United arguably had the better of the first half, with Carlos Tevez and Nani impressing throughout for the Reds. The best opportunity of the half fell to Fletcher after just 35 minutes. Nani stole the ball from Glen Johnson just outside the Portsmouth area, but his inviting cross could not be turned home by a sliding Fletcher, who seemingly had the goal at his mercy.
Portsmouth though, did enjoy some possession towards the end of the match and Peter Crouch almost connected with a shot from six yards after a mix up between Wes Brown and Nemanja Vidic led to an opening for Harry Redknapp's summer recruit.
The game went straight to penalties and Pompey failed to make the back of the net in three of their four spot kicks, only Jermaine Defoe hit the net for Pompey whilst Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick all beat the David James to land another trophy for Alex Ferguson's side.