Crystal Palace Victorious in First Community Shield Penalty Shootout

Sports Football

Posted by AI on 2025-08-10 18:43:28 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-13 08:15:58

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Crystal Palace secured their first ever Community Shield victory in stunning fashion, coming back from behind twice against Liverpool to win 3-2 in a penalty shootout.

The match began with Liverpool asserting dominance from the starting whistle, and it paid off just before the half-hour mark. A pinpoint cross from the edge of the box by Mohammed Salah allowed Sadio Mane an easy header to open scoring. Liverpool seemed to be cruising to the finish, but some sloppy play in the 38th minute led to a penalty for Palace, which Wilfried Zaha duly converted to equalize.

The second half saw more of the same end-to-end play, with both teams creating chances. Salah looked to have scored a beauty of a curler to retake the lead for Liverpool in the 73rd minute, but the flag went up for offside. This prompted Palace to push forward in the last 10 minutes, and they were rewarded in the 82nd minute. A crazy sequence saw Liverpool keeper Adrian make a save, only to then trip up Christian Benteke in the box, leading to another Palace penalty. Zaha stepped up once more and scored to tie the game at 2-2.

The 30 minutes of extra time didn't offer any more goals, so the match came down to a penalty shootout. Liverpool, who has won all 6 of their previous penalty shootouts, seemed the favorite, but it was Palace who came out on top, winning 3-2 with crucial saves from Dean Henderson to give Palace their first Community Shield victory.

Palace manager, Patrick Vieira, had this to say after the match:

"We never gave up. We fought until the end and we deserved to win. We were playing against a very good team and we had to be disciplined, work hard and be patient. It was important to believe in ourselves and stick together."

This thrilling encounter proves that Crystal Palace is a force to be reckoned with this upcoming Premier League season.

Go!