Man City Love to Win Finals: Dias
Manchester City captain Ruben Dias has declared his side “love to win finals” after defeating rivals Manchester United on penalties to lift the Community Shield.
Bernardo Silva’s late header canceled out Alejandro Garnacho’s opener, setting the stage for a dramatic penalty shootout.
And captain Dias, who has won 10 trophies as a City player, including the Community Shield, was proud of the way his team-mates dug in at Wembley.
“We’re happy to start the season in the way we have and there’s a lot to come,” he told ITV Sport. “It’s another trophy and we’re always happy to collect trophies.
“We’ve just had a long season and we still don’t have a full squad back but it is very good for us to start this way.
“It’s very different circumstances to the FA Cup final but it’s a final and we love to win finals. The way we played, conceding a goal but then to make it 1-1, I’m very proud of all of us and very happy with the win.”
Like they had towards the end of the 90 minutes, United looked on their way to victory in the penalty shoot-out when Andre Onana denied Silva from City’s first attempt.
However, Ederson helped Jadon Sancho’s pen onto the post before himself going on to score as City prevailed in sudden-death.
Ederson buried his penalty, giving opposite number Onana no chance, and team-mate Manuel Akanji believes he is City’s king of pens.
“Ederson is probably the best penalty taker in our team, Erling [Haaland] as well,” he told ITV Sport. “When Ederson takes the penalty, I know it is a goal.
“It wasn’t easy today. We played well. United got a bit better before it went to 1-0. Then it was a great cross from Oscar and Bernardo’s header.”
Man City faces Chelsea a week on Sunday in the opening game of their Premier League title defence, but they will first revel in their latest trophy triumph.
“This is a great feeling – the first time we have the trophy in a number of years,” Bobb said. “To do it with a young group is great. We had belief all the way through. We kept going and didn’t get too downbeat.
“It’s another trophy. It’s a great start. This gives us a lot of confidence and no negatives.”