Oliver Glasner believes Crystal Palace deserved emotion “that money can't buy” after his side came back to win the Community Shield shootout against big-spending Liverpool at Wembley.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson saved penalties from Alexis McAllister and Harvey Elliott after Mohamed Salah had missed the Reds' opener and the Eagles added another honour to their trophy cabinet by winning their first major trophy by beating Manchester City to lift the FA Cup in May.
It was a victory the Palace manager admitted he had specially remembered for his players on the return to the national stadium, where normal time ended 2-2 thanks to Ismaila Sarr's second-half goal levelling the scores before Northern Ireland's Justin Devenney converted the decisive penalty.
“Before we went to Wembley I showed the players a video of the joy of the fans after winning the FA Cup, and that's what we call emotional reward,” Glasner said.
To stand here in front of our fans, to feel this emotion, it's a feeling that no amount of money can buy and you have to earn it. The players deserved it after the FA Cup and they deserved it today too.
Our fans have supported us from the very beginning to the very end, even today. When we were down, they always pushed the team forward. It is a wonderful bond, and in the end we were all rewarded, and this will stay with us forever.”
The competition began with a touching tribute to former Liverpool striker Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who died in a car crash in Spain on July 3.
Liverpool have spent almost £300m in this transfer window, returning around £200m, while Palace have only spent around £2m so far on Croatia defender Borna Sosa and brought in goalkeeper Walter Benitez on a free transfer.
Four of Arne Sloth's summer signings started at Wembley and made an impact from the start
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
