Crystal Palace show the Community Shield does matter – but there are positives for Liverpool too | OneFootball

In what has been a far from ideal summer for Crystal Palace since last season’s FA Cup triumph, Oliver Glasner’s side showed the type of fight that might just suggest they have another memorable campaign ahead.

A demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League for breaching UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, which Palace are in the process of appealing, has overshadowed what has been probably the best period in the club’s recent history, and the Palace fans certainly made their feelings known at Wembley.

Those frustrations have been added to by their inability to bolster their squad in the transfer market much as of yet, with only Borna Sosa from Ajax and goalkeeper Walter Benitez arriving so far. Glasner admitted during his press conference ahead of the game that it had been frustrating, saying: “Of course, it helps if players are in early when you start with pre-season because here you have time to train. We are quite passive. We are short of numbers, we have to add players, especially with quality.”

The Eagles have, however, so far managed to keep hold of two of their key men in Ebere Eze and Marc Guehi, though the latter’s long-term future remains especially unclear with just a year remaining on his current deal.

For now, though, their Wembley fightback showed that Glasner is still blessed with a very good group of players to work with.

It looked like Palace would be in for a difficult afternoon when Hugo Ekitike gave Liverpool an early lead in the Community Shield but Ismaila Sarr inspired a brilliant comeback, first winning a penalty after being tripped by Virgil van Dijk, which Jean-Philippe Mateta calmly converted, and then scoring with a well-taken finish off the post in the second half after Jeremie Frimpong’s cross had inadvertently found its way over the top of Dean Henderson and into the far corner.

Whoever says the Community Shield does not matter only needs to look at Glasner’s celebrations after Sarr’s equaliser to know that this was not being viewed as a glorified pre-season friendly by the Palace boss, nor was it by the fans who jubilantly celebrated.

And having deservedly taken the game to penalties following a superb second-half showing, youngster Justin Devenny stepped up to smash home the winning spot-kick and make Palace fans forget all about the off the pitch problems that have dominated this summer.

Positives for Liverpool as new signings impress

Liverpool might have failed to add another Community Shield to their trophy cabinet but there were at least some positive signs that their new additions have settled in quickly.

After last season’s Premier League title triumph, the Reds have looked to strengthen while they are ahead – bringing in striker Ekitike, attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, and full-back duo Frimpong and Milos Kerkez for an outlay of around £300m.

All four players started at Wembley, and it was the new attacking duo of Wirtz and Ekitike who combined for the opener on just four minutes, the latter interchanging passes with his team-mate on the edge of the Palace area before curling a lovely low shot into the bottom corner.

In a summer that has been dominated by talk of strikers moving, or not moving, clubs, Ekitike suggested he might just be the best of the bunch if his performance at Wembley is anything to go by. He was a threat all game long, stretching the Palace back-line with his movement in behind and showing some brilliant combination play with his attacking team-mates.

He shows a tendency to drift out to the left-hand side, before looking to cut in to combine with team-mates or shoot at goal. His strike at Wembley bore comparisons to the goal he scored for Eintracht Frankfurt against Tottenham in last season’s Europa League quarter-final first leg, and while attention still remains on whether the Reds will make another move for Alexander Isak, Ekitike looks more than good enough to lead the line for a side looking to win the title.

Much has been made of Wirtz’s versatility and ability to play across the front-line following his British record £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen, but he looks a natural in the number 10 role he played today, showing some brilliant quick combination play in and around the Palace area, not just for Ekitike’s goal but throughout the game.

In today’s world of vicious social media trolls, Wirtz will no doubt be harshly judged on how many goals and assists he delivers, and anything short of expectations based on his enormous price tag will probably see him mocked and ridiculed by rival fans. But you only need to watch Wirtz for a matter of minutes to know he is a supremely gifted footballer, and neutrals should be looking forward to the prospect of watching him on their TV screens week in, week out.

Perhaps the biggest change to this Liverpool side from last season has come at right-back, however, with Arne Slot replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long-range passing and outstanding crossing ability with the pace and overlapping runs of Frimpong.

While Liverpool have lost something they cannot replace in Alexander-Arnold, Frimpong provides something completely different but, perhaps, equally as dangerous. His constant darts forward will give opposition full-backs, wing-backs and wingers headaches, and one of his charges forward resulted in Liverpool’s second goal of the game after Mateta had equalised from the penalty spot following a trip on Ismaila Sarr by Virgil Van Dijk.

Frimpong may have meant it as a cross, but what he produced was instead a delicate chip over the head of Dean Henderson and into the far corner to put Liverpool ahead, before Sarr’s equaliser.

Liverpool will be hoping to compete for bigger honours than this again this season, and there was enough on show despite their penalty shoot-out defeat to suggest they can do so.