In a game marked by tribute, killed in a car accident last month, Crystal Palace surprised the first time won the England Super Cup on Sunday at Wembley stadium in London. The confrontation between the English champion and the England Cup winner was only defined in penalty shootout – the London South Zone club triumphed 3-2 after a 2-2 draw in regular time. Goalkeeper Henderson, who had already stood out in the final of the World Cup, against the powerful, defended two charges and saw his shot over the goal.
Before the game, a track with shirt 20 and the inscription “Our Eternal number 20” was extended at the stadium. The Liverpool players’ shirts also brought the inscription “Forever 20” (20 forever), in reference to Jota’s number, and most of the 82,645 present spectators took posters, flags and painted their face in honor of the Portuguese and his brother, André Silva, also a victim of the accident.
On the field, the two teams played an open game and risked the attack. Pushed by most of the fans present in the London temple, Liverpool opened the scoring after 3 minutes, played by two reinforcements: young Wirtz, who was also elected the best player of the last German championship, when he defended Bayer Leverkusen, passed to Ekitiké to finish without a chance to goalkeeper Henderson.
The Palace began to scare Alisson’s goal, the only Brazilian in the field, and Matet, in a penalty kick suffered by Sarr, equaled at 16 minutes. Four minutes later, Frimpong tried to cross from the right, covered Henderson and put the red team ahead on the scoreboard, just as he cheered it applauded Diogo Jota in the 20th minute.
Even in advantage, Liverpool went up in the second half and, with more volume of play, was a chance to score the third goal and open a good advantage in the fight for the first cup of the season. Arne Slot made changes to close the team and Crystal Palace took advantage. The Croydon team, south of London, almost reached the draw with Eze, who demanded difficult defense of Alisson, but did not give up and, 31 minutes, made 2-2 in Sarr kick in the area.
The game was open until the final whistle, but no goal was leaked again and the definition was for penalties. The top scorer Salah isolated the ball in the first charge, Henderson defended two kicks, by Mac Allister and Elliot, and Crystal Palace won 3-2, winning for the first time the Super Cup of England – his second trophy in 119 years.
*With information from Estadão Content
Posted by Nicolas Robert
