Weekend Review: United pay the penalty against City as EFL season commences

Manchester City beat city rivals Manchester United 7-6 on penalties to lift the Community Shield following a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes in what was a good start to the 2024-25 season for the bookies.

Teenager Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to repeat his trick from the FA Cup final in May, giving United the lead in the Manchester Derby.  

Fellow substitute Bernardo Silva equalised for City with minutes left on the clock, setting up the penalty shootout.  

Silva then initially handed United the advantage after missing the opening spot kick, before Jadon Sancho and Johnny Evans failed to convert and allowed Manuel Akanji to win it for Guardiola’s side.  

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill suggested the match stirred up excitement for the coming season. 

He said: “The curtain-raiser for the 2024-25 season took place on Sunday as Man City and Man Utd played out the Community Shield, and we were certainly glad to see the return of some top-class football after a break.  

“1-1 in normal time was a great result for us, and although City eventually took the win on penalties, it was a good start to the return of football.” 

Bet365’s Steve Freeth added that the uncertainty surrounding City’s dispute against the Premier League, which sees the current champions face 115 charges of financial misconduct, has made pre-season pricing on the outright markets trickier than usual.  

He said: “It all starts for real next weekend with Manchester City odds against for the title and into 16/1 to be relegated.  

“I’d say it’s been the hardest pre-season ever in terms of pricing up ante-post markets with so much uncertainty surrounding what will or won’t happen on the charges front.” 

Meanwhile, the English Football League (EFL) season kicked off in earnest over the weekend with games across the Championship, League One and League Two serving up some entertaining results. 

Pre-season favourites for the Championship, Leeds United (1/4) were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Championship newcomers Portsmouth, with two goals coming after the 90-minute mark.

Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney endured a sobering return to management, with his Plymouth side losing 4-0 away to Sheffield Wednesday (8/11).

Birmingham City, clear favourites for the League One title after splashing the cash in bid to return to the Championship, kicked off their League One campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Reading, much to the delight of the bookmakers as plenty of coupons were torn up with a 1/2-shot being sunk.

Hollywood-backed Wrexham (10/11) enjoyed a 3-2 win at home to Wycombe Wanderers, and Stockport (8/13) ran out 2-0 winners over Cambridge United.

Freeth suggested bookmakers will have enjoyed seeing Leeds and Birmingham fail to win on the opening day. 

He said: “It started for real in the Football League and with both Leeds and Birmingham seemingly in every ante-post multi going, it was pleasing to see them both fail to win on the opening weekend – just another 45 matches to go.

“Leeds went off at 1/4 to beat Portsmouth and were trading at 1/20 in-play before finishing 3-3 while Birmingham kicked off at St Andrew’s as a 1/2 poke.  

“All in all a satisfactory start as we countdown to the start of the Premier League.” 

Gill added that the EFL had been a “great start” for the Unibet parent company. “A thriller at Elland Road as Leeds snatched a draw from newly promoted Portsmouth in a 3-3 result, and despite the goal-fest, we managed a nice margin there.

A2 poor start for Wayne Rooney at Plymouth as they were thumped 4-0 by Sheffield United, a result which saw punters finish well ahead, but otherwise things largely went our way.”

The EFL will also be impacted by a new TV deal with Sky Sports this season, which will see all 72 sides feature on TV at least 20 times this season.

As a result, all Championship games kicked off at 12.30pm, followed by League Two at 3pm and League One at 5.30pm.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “The Sky deal looked to be having a positive impact on turnover, and it was just fantastic to have domestic footie back with a bang – now for the big boys, starting Friday at Old Trafford.”

The Betfred man added that stuttering Leeds, Birmingham and MK Dons gave a welcome boost to the Warrington-based bookies’ bottom-line.

Pivoting away from football, the weekend also saw horseracing’s Shergar Cup take place at Ascot on Saturday.  

An all-female team of Rachel Venniker and Jo Mason, led by Hayley Turner, took home the trophy as they beat out Europe, Rest of the World and Great Britain and Ireland.

It was the fourth time in the past six years an all-female team has won the competition.

Turner sealed the victory, winning on 100/30 favourite New Image in the Shergar Cup Mile handicap. She also took home the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle award for top jockey for the third occasion.

Betfred’s Firkins added: “Half of ITV’s 10 televised races were won by the jolly, so it was just about honours even – plus two of Fred’s morning pushes obliged after Jarraaf was pushed to 7/4 and won at 5/6, and New Image pushed to 4/1, who won at 10/3.”