Jack Grealish made his debut appearance for Manchester City debut but it was Kelechi Iheanacho that took the shine of the night as his late penalty clinched a 1-0 win in the Community Shield for Leicester City on Saturday.
All eyes were on Grealish when he came on as a second half substitute following his British record £100 million ($139 million) move from Aston Villa on Thursday.
Grealish, currently the most expensive English player of all-time, carried more threat than any of his team-mates.
Admittedly, City were without Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden after the playmakers both suffered injuries at Euro 2020.
With several other City stars resting from Euro and Copa America duty, Pep Guardiola fielded a weakened team featuring teenage debutant Edozie and fellow academy graduate Cole Palmer.
This is Leicester’s second Community Shield triumph and first in 50 years.
Three months after beating Chelsea in the final of the FA Cup, Leicester is still battling with injuries to their defenders; Wesley Fofana, James Justin and Jonny Evans all side-lined and missed the match.
City had threatened early on when Ilkay Gundogan’s free-kick was tipped over by Kasper Schmeichel.
But Leicester looked the more cohesive unit in the first half and Steffen saved from Jamie Vardy’s close-range flick.
Guardiola’s frustration was obvious and that led to him being booked for an angry rant at the fourth official after Palmer was penalised for a foul.
Grealish wearing number 10 shirt was introduced with 25 minutes left to huge cheers from the Man City fans.
Even with Grealish’s class, Leicester still won the trophy thanks to Ake’s blunder in the 18 yard box.
Caught in possession by Iheanacho, Ake clearly tripped the striker, conceding a penalty that Iheanacho hit high into the net beyond the reach of Man City’s shot stopper.
