Manchester City came from behind in normal time before beating Sevilla in a penalty shootout to win the Super Cup for the first time in their history.
It looks like Man City were presented with the rare opportunity to claim a trophy that did not already have their name on it, City initially struggled to rise to the occasion and found themselves behind thanks to Youssef En-Nesyri’s towering header.
It was great performance by Ederson who denied Sevilla striker several times in the second period and Sevilla was in-turn made to pay for his wastefulness when Cole Palmer looped a header over Yassine Bounou to equalise.
After finally claiming the elusive Champions League crown they had craved for the best part of two decades, City ultimately made the most of being granted access to the exclusive Super Cup.
But the treble winners made hard work of their meeting with Sevilla, who may have won the Europa League last season but also slumped to a mid-table finish in LaLiga and are set to lose key personnel before the transfer window closes.
Gvardiol continued to endure a difficult evening on his first start for City – as did Erling Haaland, who completed just one pass during a virtually anonymous opening 45 minutes.
The prolific striker was only marginally more involved in the second half, with En-Nesyri looking the more likely to find the net as Sevilla consistently exposed City when they turned over possession.
But with City beginning to bang their heads against the brick wall that was Sevilla’s defence, it was left to academy product Palmer to reinvigorate his more experienced team-mates when he guided in Rodri’s cross.
City finally began to look like themselves as they pinned Sevilla inside their own box for much of the final 20 minutes, but the Spanish side stood firm, with Bounou again saving from Ake, and Haaland seeing his only clear opening of the night charged down.
