ATHENS - Pep Guardiola is targeting a "full circle" of trophies as Manchester City boss, after winning the club's first Uefa Super Cup with a victory on penalties over Sevilla after a 1-1 draw in Athens.
The European champions had to come from behind after Youssef En-Nesyri's towering first-half header gave the Spanish side the lead.
City were far from their slick best, but hit back to force the game to penalties through Cole Palmer's equaliser.
Guardiola's men were then perfect from the spot and prevailed 5-4 in the shoot-out after Sevilla defender Nemanja Gudelj smashed his shot against the bar.
Should City win the Club World Cup in December, it would com-plete Guardiola's honours list since arriving in England: Five Premier League titles, four League Cups, two FA Cups and the club's first Champions League.
"We are really pleased for the club to win this," he said. "We miss just one to finish the full circle and have all the titles we can have."
Jack Grealish said the players were told how much the Spaniard coveted the trophy, adding: "The manager made it so clear to us before the game how much he wants this trophy. You want to win everything anyway but that gave us more of an urge."
This story is from the August 18, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the August 18, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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