Akanji scores clinching penalty as Man City beats Man United in shootout to win Community Shield

LONDON (AP) — Chastened by a decisive penalty miss at the recent European Championship, Manuel Akanji was happy to be placed near the end of Manchester City’s list of spot-kick takers during a shootout against Manchester United in the Community Shield on Saturday.

Imagine how the Switzerland defender felt, then, when the opportunity fell to him to score the winning penalty at Wembley Stadium.

“I let the others shoot first,” Akanji said, “because obviously when you miss a penalty, you don’t go into the next one with that much confidence.”

This time he made no mistake.

After a 1-1 draw in regulation time, City beat United 7-6 in a shootout to win the traditional curtain-raiser to the English soccer season between the winners of last season’s Premier League (City) and FA Cup (United).

City's players rushed from the center circle to celebrate with Akanji after he lifted the clinching penalty straight down the middle and into the roof of the net.

In the Euro 2024 quarterfinals last month, Akanji was left with “deep emptiness, deep sadness” — in the words of Switzerland coach Murat Yakin — when he was the only player to not convert a penalty in a shootout loss to England. On that occasion, Akanji took Switzerland’s first attempt.

“He missed it in the Euros," City manager Pep Guardiola said, “and I love he had the personality to take it.”

City ended a run of three straight losses in the Community Shield — to Leicester, Liverpool then Arsenal over the past three years — and went some way to avenging the loss to United in the FA Cup final 77 days ago. Guardiola's team was beaten 2-1 to miss out on another league-and-cup double.

It looked like United would be claiming another Wembley win over its neighbor when second-half substitute Alejandro Garnacho cut inside and drove a low shot inside the near post in the 82nd minute.

City equalized in the 89th when Bernardo Silva, also a substitute, headed in from Oscar Bobb’s cross.

The game went straight to penalties — there is no extra time in the Community Shield — and Silva saw his shot saved by Andre Onana off City’s first attempt.

Jadon Sancho failed off United’s fourth kick as Ederson tipped the shot onto the post. It was more penalty heartache for Sancho, who was one of three England players to miss in the shootout loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.

United defender Jonny Evans, the team’s eighth penalty-taker, chipped his effort over the crossbar to give Akanji the chance to win it for City.

Against England in Dusseldorf, the center back placed his kick to his right and had it saved by Jordan Pickford, but this time he hit it down the middle.

While United fielded a close-to-full-strength team, City was still without a raft of key players following the Euro 2024 final between Spain and England. Rodri, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones were all missing, while Kevin De Bruyne started on the bench and was a late substitute.

“We’re happy to start the season in the way we have and obviously there’s a lot to come," said Ruben Dias, who was City's captain for the match. “It’s another trophy and we’re always happy to collect trophies. We’ve just had a long season and we still don’t have a full squad back but it is very good for us to start this way.”

Guardiola has now won 18 trophies — including the Community Shield three times — since joining City in 2016.

The Premier League season starts Friday, when United hosts Fulham.

“It hurts in your stomach — you have to feel pain and we have to hurt," United manager Erik ten Hag said. “We have to take this belief in to the league.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Manchester City forward Erling Haaland kicks a penalty during the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester United players stand together during the penaty shootout during the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne lifts the trophy after his team won the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester City forward Erling Haaland controls the ball during the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford fails to score during the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester City players celebrate winning the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United by penalty shootout at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne lifts the trophy after his team won the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola gestures during the FA Community Shield final soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag watches his team during the FA Community Shield final soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola watches his team during the FA Community Shield final soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot , left, and Manchester City forward Jérémy Doku challenge for the ball during the FA Community Shield final soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester City defender Ruben Dias heads the ball during the FA Community Shield final soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester City forward Erling Haland shoots during the FA Community Shield final soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho, left, and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford celebrate after scoring their side's first goal during the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the FA Community Shield soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — English soccer fans have been waiting almost a lifetime to win another World Cup. Just imagine what British sailing fans feel when the America's Cup rolls around.

Their best yachtsmen have been trying — and failing — for 173 years to conquer the Holy Grail of sailboat racing.

The schooner America won the race's very first edition back in 1851 in a loop around the Isle of Wight, where Queen Victoria herself was in attendance as the Royal Yacht Squadron was bested off the English coast. Since then, no country has challenged to win the Auld Mug as many times as Britain — only to always come up short.

And this for a country that holds a record 30 Olympic medals in sailing and whose ships used to rule the oceans in the times of empire.

Ben Ainslie, the most successful sailor in Olympic history with four golds and a silver, heads the latest British effort to end the wait for the oldest international trophy in sport.

“It’s massive for us because we’re a proud sporting country and our maritime heritage is massive for us as an island nation,” Ainslie told The Associated Press after a race in Barcelona. “The America’s Cup is the one international sporting trophy Britain has never won. And it originated in the UK.

"So that’s a big motivator for us to try, as we say, and get the America’s Cup back home.”

Ainslie's description of the weight of history on his team's shoulders echoes that of England's soccer team, whose anthem, “Football’s coming home,” sums up the mission of trying to lift its first title since winning the 1966 World Cup.

While the country is soccer crazed and its wealthy Premier League the envy of the sport, Britain's history has for centuries been closely linked with its nautical might.

The 47-year-old Ainslie has the unique role at the America’s Cup in his dual position as INEOS Britannia's skipper and its team principal. That means he runs the team in every facet and calls the shots on the waves from his starboard cockpit on the 75-foot foiling monohull.

Britannia has made a promising start and topped the challenger standings in the opening round-robin phase, which included beating a strong Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli of Italy twice. Britannia will get to pick its rival — from the Italians, Americans and Swiss — for the semifinals starting on Saturday. The last boat standing will win the Louis Vuitton Cup and face defending champion New Zealand in the America’s Cup finals.

Ainslie already knows what it feels like to win the America’s Cup, albeit for the Americans.

He was on the 2013 winner Oracle Team USA. After the Americans fell into a large early deficit against New Zealand, Ainslie, a tactician, was promoted from the backup crew to the race crew. New Zealand expanded its lead to 8-1 and match point, but Ainslie helped the American-flagged crew pull off one of the greatest comebacks in sport, winning eight straight races to become the first British sailor to win the America’s Cup in 110 years.

As to why the cup has proven so elusive to a nation that excels at sailing, Ainslie insists that it is just “incredibly hard” to dethrone a sitting champion in a winner-takes-all event like no other — the champion sets the rules, picks the venue and gets a ticket to the final of the next edition.

“(So) much goes into the competition, the technicality, the boats and the competitive nature of it," he says. "And the fact that we know that the defender is really in the hot seat. They’re rewriting the rules for the next event and are in the final. So if you have a strong defender, like the Team New Zealand that we’ve seen in previous America’s Cups, it’s very, very hard to beat.”

Britannia has the backing of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, the owner of petrochemicals giant INEOS who bought into storied soccer club Manchester United this year. His sailing outfit also shares a technical director and design expertise with the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

Ainslie first challenged for the cup in 2017 in Bermuda. INEOS came aboard the following year and they made a run at the cup in 2021 in Auckland. Both times New Zealand won.

The America’s Cup was born some four decades before the modern Olympic Games, and only four countries have even won it. The Americans successfully defended the title 24 times until that incredible 132-year run ended in 1983 at the hands of the Australians. The Swiss were the last country to join the select club.

The first step for the Brits is emerging as the best challenger. They haven’t reached the match final since 1964.

“The only thing we have in our mind is trying to win the thing. I think we can win it,” Ainslie says. “If we can keep that momentum going, we can be dangerous. Are we going to do it this time or not? Only time will tell.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

FILE - Skipper Ben Ainslie steers the boat as the British team crosses the finish line in the second fleet race of the SailGP series in Sydney, Feb. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)