Tomorrow, City return to Community Shield action against Arsenal at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. BST.
The traditional curtain-raiser to a new Premier League season has been relocated from Wembley for the first time since 2006. City arrive as FA Cup holders facing an Arsenal side that just won the league title, and it’s the two clubs’ first Community Shield meeting since 2023.
No matter how City perform, keep in mind that whatever happens in Cardiff on Sunday says almost nothing about how the season will actually unfold. They’ve won this match and gone on to a treble; they’ve lost it and gone on to a different treble. They’ve won it in a season that fell apart and lost it in a season defined by late-day championship drama. The Community Shield, in other words, is a trophy —not a forecast.
2024: Man City 1, Man United 1 (City win 7-6 on penalties)
It was a strange match to portend a strange season for both City and United. There was some late drama, as Alejandro Garnacho scored at 82’ to give the Red Devils the lead. But just seven minutes later, Bernardo Silva headed in a cross from Oscar Bobb – on Silva’s 30th birthday – to send the match to PKs.
In the shootout, United’s Jonny Evans sent the club’s eighth penalty kick over the crossbar. This opened the door for Manuel Akanji to net the winner.
The bottom line: The Community Shield was the only hardware City would earn this season. They ended outside the top two in the Premier Legue table for the first time in seven years, lost in the FA Cup Final to Crystal Palace and were eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid in the knockout round.
Things were even worse for United. They sacked manager Erik ten Hag in November, yet still fell to 15th in the league – their worst finished since 1973-74 – under Ruben Amorim.
2023: Arsenal 1, Man City 1 (Arsenal win 4-1 on penalties)
Cole Palmer put City ahead in the 77th minute, curling a left-footed finish into the corner past Aaron Ramsdale. Arsenal equalized deep into stoppage time (11 minutes added on) when Leandro Trossard’s shot took a heavy deflection off Manuel Akanji and wrong-footed Stefan Ortega, making it 1-1
In the shootout City fell apart: Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri both missed their spot-kicks, and Fabio Vieira converted the winner for Arsenal to seal a 4-1 shootout victory. It capped a rough day for City, who became the second club ever (and first since Manchester United in 1998-2001) to lose three straight Community Shields.
The bottom line: By most club’s standards, City enjoyed a successful season. They captured the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup. They also won another Premier League title — although they needed a result on the final day against West Ham to hold off Arsenal by two points in the final table.
But City isn’t most clubs. And another letdown in the Champions League left fans a bit empty. Against Real Madrid in the quarters, City traveled to Madrid for the second leg level on aggregate goal.
In the 12th minute, Real’s Rodrygo beat Ederson to a rebound and scored to draw first blood. City then took control but could only manage one goal the rest of the way, with Kevin De Bruyne leveling the match in the 76th minute.
After a scoreless added period, City took an early lead in the penalty shootout. Julian Alvarez converted his spot kick, then Ederson saved Luka Modric’s effort. But Andriy Lunin was magical in goal for Real, parrying successive penalty kicks from Silva and Mateo Kovacic. Finally, Antonio Rudiger drove the dagger into City’s heart to send real to the semifinals.
The loss prematurely ended City’s hopes of becoming the first English club to win consecutive Champions League titles.
2022: Liverpool 3, Man City 1
Erling Haaland’s origin story. This marked his first game of real consequence after Man City purchased him from Dortmund in July 2022 for £51 million. Ironically, he played poorly in this defeat, including hitting the crossbar with a shot at an open goal in stoppage time.
Instead, two other newcomers stole the headlines. For City, Argentinian Julian Alvarez made his bow in sky blue after coming over from River Plate for £14 million. He scored a goal by pouncing on Phil Foden’s saved attempt. Two years later, City would sell Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for a club record £81.5 million.
For Liverpool, Darwin Nunez made an auspicious start. He drew a penalty late in the match, then scored a goal in stoppage time.
The bottom line: Haaland left this match in his rearview mirror. He went on score 52 goals in 53 matches, including a Premier League record 36 goals. As for City, all they did that season was win the treble, capturing the Champions League crown, the FA Cup and their third consecutive league title. Liverpool finished a distant fifth in the Premiership and were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16.
2021: Leicester City 1, Man City 0
The only goal came on a late penalty kick driven home by sub Kelechi Iheanacho in the 89th minute after he was fouled inside the box by Nathan Ake. It was Leicester’s first-even Community Shield triumph.
The bottom line: City shook off their uninspiring performance to win the Premier League crown (their sixth), edging out Liverpool on the final day of the season. Unfortunately, that was the only trophy they would claim.
They were eliminated from the League in the fourth round by West Ham and reached only the FA Cup semis. In the Champions League, City fell in the semis, infamously surrendering an aggregate lead of 5-3 against Real Madrid in a humbline 3-1 extra-time defeat in the second leg at the Bernabeu.
2019: Liverpool 1, Man City 1 (City win 5-4 on penalties)
Just like in 2024, City and their opponents ended the match 1-1, only for the Sky Blues to win in the penalty shootout. City jumped ahead at 12’ after Kevin De Bruyne headed the ball into the penalty box to David Silva, who executed a clever flick to Raheem Sterling for the goal from six yards out.
Liverpool drew level at 77’. City’s defense failed to clear a long free kick into the box from Jordan Henderson. The ball bounced to Virgil van Dijk, who lofted it toward the goal mouth. Somehow, Joe Matic slipped between three City defenders to head the ball home.
In the shootout, only Georginio Wijnaldum missed for Liverpool, with Claudio Bravo making the save. Gabriel Jesus scored the winner for City.
The bottom line: The 2019/20 season was a case of close but no cigar for City. They did win the League Cup. But they finished second in the Premier League, failing to defend their title. Of course, the league season was interrupted for three months by the Covid-19 pandemic. Liverpool led most of the campaign and ended up claiming the crown by 18 points over City. In the Champions League, the Sky Blues were shockingly dismantled by Lyon in the quarterfinals.
2018: Chelsea 0, Manchester City 2
Maurizzio Sarri’s first competitive match in charge of Chelsea was a forgettable one. At 12’, Foden (then 18-years old) slipped a pass to Sergio Aguero, who punched a left-footed shot past former City teammate Willy Caballero for an early City lead. Aguero sealed his brace at 58’ with another low shot past Caballero after Silva’s clever pass set him up.
The bottom line: City achieved the domestic treble, adding the FA Cup and League Cup trophies to their Premier League championship. Some consider it a quadruple, as City became the first team to ever hold all four prominent English titles simultaneously. However, they once again underachieved in the Champions League.
In the quarterfinals, they dropped the first leg away to Tottenham 1-0. The second leg proved one for the ages for Spurs. Raheem Sterling scored twice to give City leads of 1-0 and 3-2. Just before the hour mark, Sergio Aguero scored to put City up 4-2 and give them their first lead in the tie. But at 73’, Spurs’ journeyman striker Fernando Llorente scored on a corner kick that deflected off his right hip to pull Tottenham to within 4-3. The tie ended at 4-4, with Spurs victorious on away-goals advantage.
