Crystal Palace 2-2 Liverpool: Dean Henderson the hero in shootout as Eagles lift Community Shield

Yahoo

17 hours ago

Arne Slot's summer spending spree looked to have paid immediate dividends with two debutants on target, but it was Dean Henderson who was the hero as Crystal Palace beat Liverpool to lift the Community Shield at Wembley.
The Premier League champions looked electric in attack and in transition at Wembley, with Hugo Ekitike opening his account for his new side inside just four minutes, before Jeremie Frimpong got his name on the scoresheet on his bow in a red shirt.
Ekitike, fresh from his £68million arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt, showed what he was all about in the early exchanges, as he neatly took a ball from fellow new recruit Florian Wirtz on the spin in the left channel, before crafting out a yard of space for himself as he darted infield and unleashed an arrowed strike beyond Dean Henderson into the far corner.
Henderson was called into action to deny Cody Gakpo on the quarter-hour as Liverpool swept forwards once more, and Ekitike was right at the heart of it. The Frenchman had the ball zipped into him, and he produced the deftest of touches to nip it around the corner for Wirtz, who played Gakpo in down the left. The Dutchman bore down on goal, but Henderson stayed big to deny him as he shaped to curl in a second.
Oliver Glasner's Palace grew into the affair at the home of football, with their wing-backs, Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell, causing problems down the flanks for Liverpool's fresh faces Milos Kerkez and Frimpong.
The Eagles well and truly landed when Jean-Philippe Mateta, so often a big and bustling presence among central defenders, ruffled feathers in the box, and the ball fell his way. The Frenchman did not get a shot away as Alisson smothered him, but it broke for Ismaila Sarr, who converged on it quickly, darting across the box and committing Virgil van Dijk, whose dangled leg prompted the Senegalese to hit the deck. Mateta converted the spot-kick with aplomb, and it was game on inside 17 minutes.
However, it took just four minutes for the Merseysiders to regain their advantage, as Frimpong attacked down the right on the overlap. The Dutchman stood up Mitchell, before delivering a cross that somehow looped over Henderson and into the Palace net, just as the Liverpool faithful had begun to applaud the late Diogo Jota in the 20th minute.
In at half-time ahead, Liverpool flew out of the traps in the second period, and it didn't take long for Ekitike to get further sniffs at his second of the game.
The first came from a delicious delivery from the left, and the Frenchman nodded wide from point-blank range, before neat work between Wirtz and Kerkez gave the striker the opportunity to blast one, but he blazed off-target.
Eberechi Eze, who had a quiet game by his standards, tested Alisson at his near post with a low drive after Palace had seized upon a loose Dominik Szoboszlai pass, but the Brazilian was equal to it to preserve Liverpool's lead.
That, however, would go in vain as an error from van Dijk allowed Palace to equalise again through Sarr, who stole in after the Liverpool skipper had stepped up, looking to play the forward offside. Sarr broke into the box and finished with great panache, sidefooting home off the post with just over 10 minutes to play.
There was a golden opportunity for Mohamed Salah, who was quiet throughout, to nick the victory for the Reds as Kerkez delivered a low cross, and the Egyptian, unmarked, sent an effort fizzing towards goal, but it was straight at Henderson.
To spot-kicks we went, and both sides disappointed from 12 yards as the goalkeepers took centre stage.
Salah blazed his opening effort over before Alexis Mac Allister struggled to drown out the boos from the Palace faithful, seeing his penalty saved by Henderson, who also kept out Harvey Elliott.
Borna Sosa, the Palace debutant, had the chance to win it, but he hit the crossbar as the drama continued, and so it came down to the youngster Justin Devenny, who had a chance at the death in regulation time to win the game, to make amends, and he duly did so, firing into the top corner to make it delightful double at Wembley for Oliver Glasner and his Palace squad.