Man City get perfectly-timed reminder ahead of treble defence

The dream of winning six trophies in a single year is over for Manchester City but as the old adage goes, the Community Shield is a meaningful match if you win and a pointless friendly if you lose.

Sadly, City will have to have the latter mindset after losing at Wembley in fairly gutting circumstances. Regardless of how little you care about the big silver plate, conceding a deflected equaliser 11 minutes into injury time and then losing on penalties is a kick in the proverbials.

As far as curtain-raisers go it was a fairly damp squib of a game ahead of what looks to be an exciting and competitive season and City played their part in making it that way. That was until the 64th minute and the introduction of Kevin De Bruyne.

The brilliant Belgian was making his return to the field after missing the rest of pre-season with the hamstring injury that saw his Champions League final end early for the second time. Yet, he looked as though he'd never been away.

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De Bruyne did more in about 30 minutes of action than anyone else on the pitch and was easily the Player of the Match. Just doing exactly what he does best: moving the ball with urgency but with precision, threading through excellent passes, driving City up the pitch and making things happen.

It was his smart header (after brilliant work from Phil Foden, who also looked really sharp and may have played himself into the starting XI) that set up Cole Palmer for his excellent finish.

With the new season just four days away and the games coming thick and fast straight out the gate, De Bruyne's return couldn't have been better timed. It was feared he would miss the start of the season but