Leicester City have added their second title of the year after beating Manchester City 1-0 in the Community Shield final. The FA Cup winners got the better of the Premier League champions, with Kelechi Iheanacho scoring the winner through a penalty in the dying minutes of the game. Here are the observations from the match.
Leicester can lead the title charge with a well-rounded squad
It was a bit unfortunate for Brendan Rodgers‘ men to miss out on Champions League qualification narrowly in the last two seasons despite punching above their weight. However, Foxes can turn their fortunes this time, and to a larger extent, they can compete for the Premier League title in the upcoming season. The morale-boosting win against Man City is just a sign of things to come as Foxes boast one of the highly competitive squads. The likes of Iheanacho, Harvey Barnes, James Maddison – as we witnessed against Cityzens – have a massive season waiting ahead. The credit has to be given to Rodgers for making Leicester one of the recognisable forces, but it is only a matter of time before they play in the Champions League.
City have a handful of young talents to benefit from
Pep Guardiola fielded some of the brightest talents from the U-23 side against Leicester City, and as it turned out, they made full use of the opportunity. Samuel Edozie started in the attack and provided more directness and pace, while Cole Palmer was nearly clinical in the midfield. Ben Knight also got some minutes as a substitute, and although Guardiola might have ended up on the losing side, he can still be proud of his young talents. With an exciting season approaching, the Spanish manager can rely on the youth ranks as he did in the Community Shield final.
City’s absence of a striker can hurt them in the upcoming season
Guardiola started Ferran Torres in the striker position, and it was the same false 9 tactic that we saw for most of the last season. Although it proved to be effective on occasions, there were instances like the Champions League finals against Chelsea where it was not. Against Foxes, it was a similar story as City weren’t clinical in converting their chances in the final third. The City might have broken the bank for Jack Grealish, which is indeed a great signing; however, they need to solve the striker problem as soon as they can. Harry Kane is touted to be the successor of Sergio Aguero, but it remains to be seen whether City can pull off another big-money signing amid Tottenham’s firm stance on not selling him.
