Crystal Palace wins Community Shield on penalties
Dean Henderson was Crystal Palace's man of the hour as his shoot-out heroics helped the Eagles beat Liverpool 3-2 on penalties to win the Community Shield at Wembley.
After a 2-2 draw in normal time, which saw Hugo Ekitike mark his Liverpool debut with a goal, Henderson saved two spot-kicks from Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott after Mohamed Salah had blazed his effort over the crossbar.
Palace's triumph was clinched by substitute Justin Devenny, who rifled a sensational match-winning penalty into the roof of Alisson Becker's net for the FA Cup victors.
With four different players making their Lverpool debut, it took just four minutes for two of the Reds' big-money arrivals to announce themselves under the Wembley arch.
Ekitike rounded off a passing move that lasted 66 seconds, which also involved nine of Liverpool's 11 players with a fine finish into the bottom-right corner after collecting Florian Wirtz's pass on the edge of the area.
But when Virgil van Dijk tripped Ismaila Sarr inside the box 13 minutes later, Jean-Philippe Mateta restored parity from 12 yards after sending Alisson the wrong way with his well-taken penalty.
Liverpool was playing in its first competitive match since the passing of Diogo Jota and retook the lead in the 21st minute through Jeremie Frimpong's cross-shot that looped over Henderson.
However, Palace improved after the break and saw two efforts in quick succession from Chris Richards and Eberechi Eze repelled by Alisson, though its dominance was eventually rewarded in the 77th minute by Sarr's brilliant finish.
Neither side was able to find the winning goal in the minutes that remained, with the encounter heading straight to penalties at Wembley, with Salah starting the shoot-out by lashing his spot-kick over.
Henderson then saved from Mac Allister and Elliott to hand new Palace signing Borna Sosa the chance to seal the win, but he cannoned his effort onto the crossbar. But it mattered little, with Devenny stepping up to clinch the trophy with an emphatic penalty.
