Premier League champions Manchester City got their new season off to a winning start thanks to a 3-2 victory over Chelsea in this afternoon's Community Shield at Villa Park.
City started the brighter of the two sides in Birmingham, but efforts from Carlos Tevez and Vincent Kompany were saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech during the opening exchanges.
It took a little while for Chelsea to impose themselves on the encounter. Their first effort arrived at the feet of Frank Lampard with 24 minutes played, but he drove straight at Costel Pantilimon in the City goal.
Despite having controlled large parts of the possession, City fell behind in the 40th minute. Spanish striker Fernando Torres reacted quickest to a loose ball inside the area, before lifting the ball over Pantilimon from close range to put Chelsea in front.
The half ended on a sour note for the Blues though as Branislav Ivanovic was handed a straight red card for a heavy challenge on his fellow Serbian Aleksandar Kolarov.
Roberto Mancini's City made their numerical advantage count shortly after the restart. John Terry's clearance only found Yaya Toure, who guided the ball beyond the reach of Cech from the edge of the area with 53 minutes played.
City were now in firm control and they took the lead just six minutes later. Argentine striker Tevez went past David Luiz to create himself enough space to send the ball into the top corner of the net from 20 yards out.
Two became three in the 65th minute thanks to Samir Nasri, who volleyed past Cech from eight yards following a cross from the left by Kolarov.
Chelsea refused to give up their pursuit of the trophy though and with ten minutes remaining the deficit was halved, thanks largely to City goalkeeper Pantilimon. The Romanian failed to hold a low shot from Daniel Sturridge and Ryan Bertrand nipped in to roll the ball into a empty net.
Roberto Di Matteo's team rarely looked like scoring again during the closing stages. In fact, it was City who should have added to their tally, but both Sergio Aguero and David Silva missed chances from inside the Chelsea area.
Liam Apicella
