Manchester United retained the FA Community Shield after being taken to a penalty shoot-out for the second year running as Portsmouth tarnished their gallant performance in the 90 minutes by failing dismally from the spot.
Lassana Diarra and Glen Johnson both ballooned their efforts over the bar with substitute Arnold Mvuemba seeing his effort blocked by Edwin van der Sar’s legs, while Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick all netted for Sir Alex Ferguson’s team.
United, who beat Chelsea in a shoot-out last year, were worthy winners despite fielding a side lacking Wayne Rooney , Cristiano Ronaldo and several other luminaries.
David James kept Portsmouth in the game with two smart saves from man-of-the-match Carlos Tevez and Darren Fletcher who missed a sitter in the first half.
United captain Gary Neville started in a competitive game for the first time since March 2007 and afterwards admitted his delight at a long-awaited comeback.
“It was fantastic just to get a game under my belt,” he said. “After being out so long I’m just happy to be out there again.
“I didn’t feel anything (bad) today. I’ve had a decent pre-season and just need more games for my sharpness.”
Giggs claimed the win will stand United in good stead for next weekend’s Premier League opener against Newcastle.
“It means a lot, you want to get off to a good start,” Giggs told Setanta Sports 1. “But it’s really for fitness and the last game before the start of the season.
“(We want to) start where we left off. It’s going to be difficult - the Champions League, Premier League, the cups, every competition is difficult.
“You have to have that hunger but I’m sure the lads have got that.”
Pompey goalkeeper James still feels his side can look forward to the new season with confidence.
“Taking the 90 minutes into consideration, it was a good workout for us,” he said.
“It would have been nice to win but we look forward to next Sunday (Chelsea at Stamford Bridge) with a lot of confidence.
“For 90 minutes it was 0-0 which against Manchester United has to be considered a very good result.”
Taken from Sportinglife.com/Eurosport
