Manchester City added the UEFA Super Cup to their Champions League title thanks to a 5-4 penalty shootout win over Sevilla in Piraeus.
City, who will be without playmaker Kevin De Bruyne for a number of months with a serious hamstring injury, hogged the ball for long spell but often lacked a creative spark.
En-Nesyri should have doubled his and Sevilla's tally early in the second half, with City indebted to a couple of fine saves from Ederson as Lucas Ocampos wrought havoc down the left flank.
Man City: (4-2-3-1, right to left): 31. Ederson (GK) – 2. Kyle Walker, 25. Manuel Akanji, 24. Josko Gvardiol, 6. Nathan Ake – 8. Mateo Kovacic, 16. Rodri – 80. Cole Palmer (19. Julian Alvarez), 47. Phil Foden, 10. Jack Grealish – 9. Erling Haaland
Sevilla: (4-2-3-1, right to left): 13. Bono (GK) – 16. Jesus Navas (4. Gonzalo Montiel), 22. Loic Bade, 6. Nemanja Gudelj, 19. Marcos Acuna – 8. Joan Jordan, 10. Ivan Rakitic – 5. Lucas Ocampos, 21. Oliver Torres (26. Juanlu), 17. Erik Lamela – 15. Youssef En-Nesyri
England Under-21 winger Cole Palmer nodded in Rodri's cross to score as he did in the Community Shield against Arsenal 10 days ago.
On that occasion, City came up short from 12 yards but Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker completed a flawless set of spot kicks.
Ocampos, Rafa Mir, Ivan Rakitic and Gonzalo Montiel showed the prowess that saw Sevilla win the Europa League against Roma in a shootout but Nemanja Gudelj, who performed superbly to help shackle Haaland, drove his kick against the crossbar to hand Pep Guardiola the fourth Super Cup triumph of his career.
How will Man City replace Kevin De Bruyne?
Guardiola boasts a squad of enviable talent, if not the depth in numbers that many assume. De Bruyne’s absence will sting and, after a close season where Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez departed for pastures new, there is a fairly sizeable deficit in terms of goal involvements that will need making up. Haaland can’t just score all the goals, however much he might love the sound of that arrangement.
There was plenty of excitement about Phil Foden slotting into the De Bruyne role but he was largely ineffective until a late switch to the right flank. That was the position where Palmer excelled after half-time but City’s reported interest in the direct and rapid Rennes winger Jeremy Doku made sense as they toiled, too often one-paced and predictable, against a disciplined Sevilla defence.
Bernardo Silva is expected to return from illness against Newcastle at the weekend but Kovacic could prove to be a huge asset for this De Bruyne-less City. The summer signing from Chelsea looks every inch a Guardiola player. His penetrative dribbling in central areas provides a point of difference and he naturally looks for quick through passes to Haaland in moments when his colleagues are more inclined to put their foot on the ball.
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