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The kick off of the
English Premier League was won by Manchester United with three goals by
Antonio Valencia, Javier Hernandez and a sublime lob from Dimitar
Berbatov in the 92nd minute, giving the Reds the first silverware of
the season.

This will mark the
fifth time that United and Chelsea have faced off in the Community
Shield and three former encounters had gone to penalty kicks. There was
a flourish to the end of the match as Chelsea pulled a goal back in the
82nd minute through Salomon Kalou but it was not to be the Blues’ day
and they have now lost their last four matches on the trot.

The first half
started on a slow note with United not keen to press the ball when it
was in Chelsea’s half of the pitch. During the period, there was the
booing of John Terry and Wayne Rooney – fans venting their spleen for
the bad showing of England’s national team at the World Cup.

The first chance of
the game arrived for Valencia in the 5th minute but his lob was not
accurate enough to beat Henrique Hilario, in goal for Chelsea. Paul
Scholes should have punished Chelsea in the 9th minute but his volley
was way off the mark after being set up by a delightful lob from
Valencia, who was giving Ashley Cole all sorts of problems down
Chelsea’s left flank.

Edwin Van Der Sar
produced the first quality save of the encounter in the 16th minute
when he clawed away Branislav Ivanovic’s goal bound header off a corner
kick.

The first goal,
when it came was, simple. A long pass from Scholes was misjudged by
Terry and Rooney made a first time square pass to Valencia to knock
past a hapless Hilario.

In the second half,
United made three changes, new signing; Javier Hernandez, Dimitar
Berbatov and Nani came on to replace Wayne Rooney, Park Ji-sung and
Michael Owen respectively.

Chelsea pressed
forward for the equaliser and made their own substitutions with Nicolas
Anelka and Mikel Obi withdrawn for Didier Drogba and Danny Sturridge.

Sturridge was a
lively sub and will have gladdened Carlo Ancelotti with his drive and
persistence. He should have scored when put through by Essien’s defence
splitting pass but Van der Sar pulled off another wonder save.

Berbatov’s lob
simply settled the match as a contest and the Bulgarian will be hoping
that this season will be very different from the last when he was made
the brunt of all United’s failings.

Manchester United
won the 2010/2011 season Community Shield for a record 14th time but
the real prizes will not be won until May 2011.