2021 FA Community Shield

The 2021 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 99th FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League, Manchester City, and the winners of the previous season's FA Cup, Leicester City.^[3] This was Manchester City's first FA Community Shield appearance since 2019 when they beat Liverpool 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw, and Leicester's first since losing 2–1 to Manchester United in the 2016 edition. The game was played on 7 August 2021 at Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, with Leicester beating Manchester City 1–0 with a 89th-minute penalty by Kelechi Iheanacho.^[4]

2021 FA Community Shield

Wembley Stadium in London hosted the match.
Leicester City Manchester City 1 0
Date	7 August 2021 (2021-08-07)
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match	Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City)^[1]
Referee	Paul Tierney (Lancashire)^[2]
Attendance	45,602
← 2020 2022 →

Arsenal were the defending champions as winners of the 2020 FA Community Shield, but did not qualify for this edition, as they failed to win either the Premier League or FA Cup. The match was televised live on ITV. It was the first time the FA Community Shield went free-to-air on television since the 2012 FA Community Shield, which was also shown on ITV.^[5]

Background

Main articles: 2020–21 Leicester City F.C. season and 2020–21 Manchester City F.C. season

Leicester City won their first FA Cup title after beating Chelsea 1–0 in the final.^[6] They were appearing in their third FA Community Shield match, having won one (1971), and lost one (2016).

Manchester City won their third Premier League title in four years under the management of Pep Guardiola, after derby rivals Manchester United lost 2–1 to Leicester City at Old Trafford on 11 May 2021.^[7] They were appearing in their 13th match, having won six (1937, 1968, 1972, 2012, 2018, 2019), and lost six (1934, 1956, 1969, 1973, 2011, 2014).

Match

Summary

In the first half, Steffen managed to save a shot from Vardy with his trailing right foot while diving to the left, with ball coming back off the left post. In the last minute of the match Leicester were awarded a penalty when Aké tripped Kelechi Iheanacho in the penalty area after he had failed to control a pass from Rodri.^[8] Iheanacho scored the penalty left-footed to the right of the net to win the game 1–0.^[9] This was the first time that a team from outside the so-called Big Six had won the Charity/Community Shield since 1995, when Everton beat Blackburn Rovers.^[10]

Details

7 August 2021 (2021-08-07)

17:15 BST

Leicester City	1–0	Manchester City
Iheanacho   89' (pen.)	Report

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 45,602

Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire)

Leicester City^[11]

Manchester City^[11]

GK 1   Kasper Schmeichel (c) RB 21   Ricardo Pereira CB 18   Daniel Amartey CB 4   Çağlar Söyüncü LB 5   Ryan Bertrand   50'   78' CM 8   Youri Tielemans   72' CM 25   Wilfred Ndidi RW 17   Ayoze Pérez   71' AM 10   James Maddison   71' LW 7   Harvey Barnes   79' CF 9   Jamie Vardy   71' Substitutes: GK 12   Danny Ward DF 16   Filip Benković DF 33   Luke Thomas   78' MF 11   Marc Albrighton   71' MF 20   Hamza Choudhury MF 22   Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall   71' MF 42   Boubakary Soumaré   72' FW 14   Kelechi Iheanacho   79' FW 29   Patson Daka   71' Manager:   Brendan Rodgers

GK 13   Zack Steffen RB 27   João Cancelo CB 3   Rúben Dias   87' CB 6   Nathan Aké LB 22   Benjamin Mendy CM 80   Cole Palmer   74' CM 25   Fernandinho (c)   87' CM 8   İlkay Gündoğan   65' RF 26   Riyad Mahrez CF 21   Ferran Torres   74' LF 53   Samuel Edozie   65' Substitutes: GK 33   Scott Carson DF 34   Philippe Sandler DF 39   Yan Couto MF 10   Jack Grealish   65' MF 16   Rodri   65' MF 20   Bernardo Silva   74' MF 69   Tommy Doyle MF 81   Claudio Gomes MF 96   Ben Knight   74' Manager:   Pep Guardiola   41'

Man of the Match: Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City)^[1] Assistant referees:^[2] Ian Hussin (Liverpool) Neil Davies (London) Fourth official:^[2] Peter Bankes (Liverpool) Reserve assistant referee:^[2] Nick Hopton (Derbyshire) Video assistant referee:^[2] Darren England (Sheffield & Hallamshire) Assistant video assistant referee:^[2] Dan Robathan (Norfolk)

Match rules^[12] 90 minutes Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Nine named substitutes, of which six may be used

Post-match

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers spoke to BBC Radio Leicester about winning the Community Shield for the first time: "There was a great feeling coming here today. Every Leicester player, fan, staff member coming here, it was a really special feeling. We wanted to take that into the game and keep that feeling going, and thankfully we've done that." Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola congratulated Leicester on their win and said, "I am more than satisfied with how we played. Many things were really good, the young players were excellent. We got minutes for players so in general, many good things." Guardiola gave debuts to academy players Cole Palmer, Samuel Edozie and Ben Knight; Edozie and Palmer started the match and Knight came off the bench to replace Ferran Torres in the 74th minute.^[11]

Leicester City started their 2021–22 Premier League campaign with a 1–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the King Power Stadium, with Jamie Vardy scoring the only goal in the 41st minute,^[13] while Manchester City began the defence of their league title at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where they faced Tottenham Hotspur; they lost 1–0 to a Son Heung-min goal in the 55th minute, giving new Tottenham Hotspur head coach Nuno Espírito Santo his first win in charge of the club. Manchester City's record signing Jack Grealish made his first start for the club in that match.^[14]

References

1. Hafez, Shamoon (7 August 2021). "Leicester City 1–0 Manchester City". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
2. "The 2021 FA Community Shield at Wembley will be refereed by Paul Tierney and his team". TheFA.com. The Football Association. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
3. Murphy, Daniel (15 May 2021). "Leicester City to face Man City in Community Shield following FA Cup triumph". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
4. "FA Community Shield: late Iheanacho penalty hands Leicester victory over Man City". TheFA.com. The Football Association. 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
5. "Community Shield: Man City v Leicester City on 7 August". BBC. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
6. McNulty, Phil (15 May 2021). "Chelsea 0–1 Leicester: Foxes lift FA Cup for first time after Youri Tielemans stunner". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
7. Stone, Simon (11 May 2021). "Man City Premier League champions as Leicester City beat Manchester United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
8. "Leicester vs Man City LIVE: Community Shield result, final score and reaction today". The Independent. 7 August 2021. from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
9. "Iheanacho punishes wasteful City to win Community Shield for Leicester". Guardian. 7 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
10. "List of FA Community Shield Winners". www.worldfootball.net. 7 August 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
11. "Leicester beat Man City to win Community Shield". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
12. "Rules of the Football Association Community Shield" (PDF). TheFA.com. The Football Association. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
13. "Vardy hands Lage defeat in first game". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
14. "Son strike gives Spurs win without Kane". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 August 2021.