I. Edwin, King Of The Spot

Meaningless though the Community Shield is, it's always nice to win a trophy - and United did just that, after a good display and an excellent penalty shoot-out.

Sir Alex did not risk playing Chris Eagles against such a strong team and opted to deploy Patrice Evra as a left-winger instead - and I'd say this decision turned out to be a spectacular success, as for me Evra was the best player on the pitch.

The early phase of the game saw Chelsea on top, with the FA Cup winners enjoying the lion share of possession in the first quarter of an hour. However, United steadily grew in stature and the first real chance of the game fell to them, after Ronaldo's pass found Giggs in the box and Petr Cech somehow blocked the Welshman's 12-yard effort.

Nothing saved Chelsea 14 minutes later, when Vidic's long ball was controlled expertly by Evra who then flicked the ball to Ronaldo. The Portuguese winger laid it back onto the path of the advancing French player whose perfect pass from the by-line found Giggs in the box who fired home from 14-yards.

United were well on top but Chelsea conjured a brilliant goal almost out of nothing: a long ball was tamed by new signing Florent Malouda who shook off the challenge of Rio Ferdinand and then fired home from a difficult angle.

The second half started with the Champions wreaking havoc: a quick firework saw efforts by Ronaldo, Rooney and Giggs all saved and blocked. After this, though, the game settled down a bit and though the tempo was as high as ever, clear-cut chances were few and far between. Cech almost gifted a winner when fumbled a Ronaldo free-kick late but it wasn't converted so, after highly entertaining 90 minutes, the match has gone to penalties.

There was no drama: Edwin van der Sar saved from Pizarro, Lampard and Wright-Phillips whereas Ferdinand, Carrick and Rooney all scored - and thus the Community Shield was ours.

It's sweet to beat Chelsea to a trophy, even though it's a meaningless one. The team performed quite well, I think we shaded the game, shame we could not score a winner. Neither team fielded their strongest line-up, of course but it was encouraging ahead of the new season, especially if you consider we didn't have Saha, Scholes, Tevez, Anderson, Hargreaves and Gary Neville available.

One thing is clear, however. These two teams are evenly matched - so expect a thrilling title race.

Patrice Evra - I ignore Van der Sar's heroics though he has forced his way into the headline. During the game, the Frenchman excelled. Playing as a left-winger, his pace, skill and first touch made life very difficult for Glen Johnson and often helped out Silvestre in defence. Did great with our goal, and I fully expect him to excel during the season.
Rarely troubled during the game, the Dutchman was faultless with the goal but put in a fantastic performance with the penalties, saving all three. Magnificent! Eager to attack but his crossing let him down and were found out of position at Chelsea's equaliser. A solid display only clouded by his mistake before Malouda's goal. Rock-solid as always and he put in a great cross before Giggs' goal. Poor in attack and regularly tormented by, no mistake, Shaun Wright-Phillips. And he was wondering why hadn't he played in the Cup final... Did his job without fuss. See John O'Shea... He's usually not exactly fantastic against Chelsea but this was an encouraging display. His runs and passes (!!!) were very dangerous and had a hand in the goal. Intelligent runs but a bit off the pace at times. Good job with the goal. As I've said, my man of the match. He just refused to be beaten. Not bad, full of energy but we expect more. Enthusiastic, he tried to help in defending and was selfless, always passing to better-positioned teammates but the overall quality of his display was mediocre. Very limited impact.

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