**Justin Devenny sealed FA Community Shield glory for Crystal Palace as the Emirates FA Cup winners beat Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties.**
The Northern Ireland international had come close to winning it in normal time for Palace, back at Wembley three months on from their first major trophy, but made no mistake when the pressure was biggest in the shootout after the game finished 2-2.
Dean Henderson had made two fine saves from Alexis MacAllister and Harvey Elliott, while Mohamed Salah fired his penalty over.
But Alisson produced a great stop of his own to deny Eberechi Eze, while Borna Sosa hit the crossbar when he had the chance to clinch it.
That left all the pressure on Devenny, and the 21-year-old showed nerves of steel to smash the ball into the top right corner with arguably the best penalty of the lot.
Earlier, Liverpool’s summer arrivals had shown their worth with club record signing Florian Wirtz setting up fellow newcomer Hugo Ekitiké for an opening goal after just four minutes, while Jeremie Frimpong scored a rather bizarre second on 20 minutes.
Between those two strikes, Jean-Philippe Mateta had levelled from the spot and Ismaila Sarr then scored a deserved equaliser for Palace in the second half as they came back into the game.
That meant it all came down to penalties, with the south London side coming out on top as Henderson showed his worth, just as he had done in the Emirates FA Cup final when saved Omar Marmoush’s spot kick.
Emotions were heightened on Liverpool’s first competitive match since the tragic passing of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, with wreaths laid before the match in honour of the pair.
It then took less than four minutes for Liverpool’s summer signings to make their mark. Wirtz played Ekitiké into a dangerous position on the left before the Frenchman returned the ball to his fellow former Bundesliga star.
The German international extended the two-man game with another pass to Ekitiké on the edge of the box, and the 23-year-old shifted the ball out of his feet before firing low into the bottom right corner past Henderson.
The Premier League champions looked right at home early, particularly with the ball, but Palace created a first chance of their own when Daichi Kamada got in behind on the left, only for Frimpong to get back to put the ball out for a corner.
A delightful touch by Ekitiké set up another Liverpool break, with Cody Gakpo forcing a wonderful save out of Henderson, albeit from an offside position.
When Mateta was put in behind, Alisson did brilliantly to deny the striker, but Palace reclaimed possession and got back into the box where Virgil van Dijk tripped Sarr.
After a quick VAR check, the penalty decision was confirmed, and Mateta stepped up confidently to fire the ball past Alisson barely two minutes after he had been denied by the Brazilian.
The Emirates FA Cup holders were up and running but Liverpool restored their lead almost immediately.
With the clock having hit 20 minutes and the Liverpool supporters chanting the name of Jota in honour of their former No.20, Frimpong made it 2-1.
The Dutchman, who joined from Bayer Leverkusen this summer, found some space on the inside right and what looked like a cross drifted over Henderson and into the back of the net to the surprise of everyone.
Having retaken the lead, Arne Slot’s side were able to control proceedings, but Palace did threaten in injury-time.
The impressive Daniel Muñoz was proving a valuable outlet on the right and when play was switched his way, he found himself in acres of space. A fizzing pass across the box just evaded Sarr, who was desperately close to poking home an equaliser.
As in the first half, Liverpool started the second 45 the stronger, with Ekitiké very close to a second after the last of the big summer signings, Milos Kerkez, found him with a pinpoint cross. The striker climbed higher than Marc Guehi but could not find the target with his header.
Ekitiké then fired over from a smart ball into him from Wirtz as Liverpool threatened to pull away.
But having stayed in contention, Palace again came close to an equaliser just before the hour, a dangerous cross nodded on by Mateta, with Sarr getting a touch but not enough to steer it into the net.
It seemed to be the spark Palace needed, with Chris Richards bursting into the box late at a corner only to fire a header straight at Alisson while unmarked.
That was quickly followed by a brilliant save from Alisson as Eze got away and produced a snap shot low with his left foot.
Wirtz could have killed off Palace hopes of a comeback with just over 20 minutes to go after he was given too much space after a surging run from Dominik Szoboszlai. Instead, the young German turned on the edge of the box and blasted the ball over.
That miss looked more costly when Palace drew level shortly after. Will Hughes nicked the ball away from Gakpo and Adam Wharton played in Sarr, who lifted the ball past Alisson and off the post and in to level the scores with less than quarter of an hour remaining.
Sarr came very close to putting Palace in front for the first time when he found space in the box with Kerkez doing brilliantly to block his shot.
In a game that was ebbing one way then the other, it was Salah who had the next opportunity, a smart first-time strike going straight at Henderson after being found by Kerkez.
Szoboszlai forced a late save out of Henderson before a dangerous cross from Andy Robertson plucked by the Palace keeper just ahead of the onrushing Salah.
But it was Devenny who had the final chance of the game, firing just wide from the edge of the box with his first touch after coming on.
As it turned out, his moment of glory was still to come.