Manchester United take first trophy of the season

Manchester United began the new season as they ended the old one, by picking up a trophy following a penalty shoot-out victory.Last May it was Champions League success they were celebrating after beating Chelsea. On Sunday there was slightly less pressure in the seasons traditional curtain raiser at Wembley against last seasons FA Cup winners, Portsmouth, but they will still have been pleased with the outcome.It is simply not in Manchester United's nature to settle for second best and they fully deserved to win the Community Shield after totally dominating the game at Wembley. They were unable to find a way through the Portsmouth defence in the 90 minutes, but ran out 3-1 winners after the spot-kicks.Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick all scored for United, just as they did against Chelsea in Moscow just a couple of months ago. But Portsmouth were less successful, with young French winger Arnold Mvuemba seeing his effort saved by Edwin van der Sar, and Lassana Diarra and Glen Johnson missing the target altogether.So just as they had done 12 months ago when they won the Community Shield on penalties, again against Chelsea, United laid down a marker for the rest by safely banking the first trophy of the season.It was manager Sir Alex Ferguson's 30th piece of major silverware as Old Trafford boss and he was delighted with his sides overall performance, even without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, who is suffering from a virus but is expected to be fit for the Premier League kick-off next weekend.Fergsuon said: "I don't know how we needed to go to penalties as we dominated possession and had good chances. There wasn't the same pressure in this shoot-out as there was in Moscow, but this was the perfect preparation. Portsmouth are a strong, experienced team and they have given my players a really good work-out"And Ferguson reserved special praise for striker Tevez, who was named Man of the Match. The Scot added: "Carlos Tevez was rightly named Man of the Match because he was on the go all game and a constant thorn in Portsmouth's side."A year ago he joined us straight from the Copa America [after playing for Argentina] and wasn't as fit as he is now. He's light years ahead now. I'm expecting big things of him this season. He's got the heart to play the game, is never intimidated and fights for every ball."The penalty shoot-out defeat meant a disappointing end to the afternoon for Portsmouth on their return to Wembley. But goalkeeper David James insisted he and his team-mates could take heart from their display as they prepare to kick off the season against Chelsea.He said: "Taking the 90 minutes into consideration it was a good workout for us. It would have been nice to win but we look forward to next weekend with a lot of confidence. For 90 minutes it was 0-0, which against Manchester United has to be considered a very good result."It was also a frustrating afternoon for Portsmouth's new attacking duo, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe, who failed to really trouble Uniteds defence. But coach Joe Jordan insisted the other players need to lend a hand to the front two.He said: "The rest of the team needs to start playing in a way that will bring them success. I'm sure they will do well, but we have to look at the quality of the service. We have to support them better."