August 10 2025

Palace beat Liverpool to win the Community Shield

Crystal Palace kicked off the new season the way they ended the last – lifting silverware at Wembley.

The FA Cup holders stunned Premier League champions Liverpool, edging a dramatic Community Shield 3-2 on penalties after a breathless 2-2 draw.

Palace’s rise from never having won a major trophy to claiming two in three months is the stuff of dreams. Not since Derby County in 1975 has a club lifted the Shield on their debut appearance.

The drama began almost immediately, as Liverpool’s big-money recruits showed their quality. Florian Wirtz slipped in Hugo Ekitike, who spun and drilled low beyond Dean Henderson after just four minutes. Palace hit back with purpose, equalising on 17 minutes when Jean-Philippe Mateta buried a penalty after Virgil van Dijk’s clumsy foul on Ismaila Sarr.

Liverpool regained the lead before the break through another summer signing, Jeremie Frimpong, whose cross-cum-shot clipped the post and rolled in. It came moments after an emotional 20th-minute tribute from the Liverpool fans to Diogo Jota, who tragically passed away last month.

Ekitike wasted two golden chances to kill the game early in the second half, and he was punished when Sarr broke free and finished clinically off the post to make it 2-2. Palace thought they had a penalty for a Mac Allister handball, only for VAR to side with the on-field decision. Devenny then almost snatched it in normal time, firing inches wide in the dying moments.

Extra-time wasn’t on the menu – straight to penalties – but Glasner’s side didn’t flinch. With Marc Guehi immense at the back once more and Henderson reprising his FA Cup heroics, Palace showed the resilience and belief that made them cup winners in May.

In the shoot-out, it was goalkeeper Henderson who once again wrote his name into Palace folklore, saving from Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott after Mohamed Salah had blazed over. That set the stage for 21-year-old Justin Devenny – brought on in stoppage time with one job – to hammer home the winning spot-kick and spark wild scenes among the red and blue army.

It may have been billed as a curtain-raiser, but for Palace fans, it felt like another Wembley epic – and another chapter in an incredible 2025 story.

Palace: Henderson, Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi (Devenny 90), Mitchell (Sosa 78), Kamada (Hughes 28), Wharton (Lerma 85), Sarr, Mateta, Eze.

Not used: Benítez, Clyne, Cardines, Esse, Edouard.

Liverpool: Alisson, Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez (Robertson 84), Jones (Endo 71), Szoboszlai, Wirtz (Elliott 84), Salah, Ekitike, (Mac Allister 71), Gakpo.

Not used: Mamardashvili, Chiesa, Nyoni, Doak, Ngumoha.