Edwin Van der Sar was the hero in penalty shootout, saving all 3 penalties to clinch the Community Shield for Manchester United. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with no extra time played.
Chelsea started the game without some key players; captain John Terry, striker Didier Drogba and midfielder Claude Makelele were among the absentees. Manchester United have their fair share of injuries, but started with a more complete squad obviously.
It was Chelsea that took charge of the game early on, controlling more possessions. United only started to control the match mid-way through the 1st half, after Ronaldo switching side to the left flank… Glen Johnson was obviously more vulnerable in defence compared to Ashley Cole, and Chelsea soon got into trouble.
Ryan Giggs almost opened the scoreline on half hour mark, but his shot was well blocked by Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Cech.
Cech could do nothing to stop Giggs from scoring on the 35th minute though. Rio Ferdinand started the attack with a brilliant cross-field long ball; Ronaldo received it and passed short to Patrice Evra, who was in acre of space before laying it perfectly for Giggs to finish it.
Amazingly this is Giggs’s first ever senior goal in the Wembley Stadium (new and old) despite playing here for perhaps over dozen of times.
Florent Malouda equalized for Chelsea just before half time with a great solo effort, but injured himself and had to be substituted in early 2nd half.
The 2nd half was evenly match for both sides; United probably have better chances to clinch the match, but it ended 1-1 in the end of 90 minutes. No extra time was played and the game went directly into penalty shootout.
Van der Sar became the hero when he saved all the penalties from Claudio Pizarro, Frank Lampard and Shaun Wright-Phillips. The United keeper probably has to thank the Chelsea trio for some poorly taken shot though.
The Red Devils on the other hand converted all their 3 spot kicks (Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney) and clinched the Community Shield.