Chelsea beats Manchester United in penalty shootout to win Community Shield

Chelsea beats United on penalties to win Shield

WEMBLEY, England —Chelsea beat Manchester United 4-1 in a penalty-kick shootout to win the Community Shield on Sunday, with Salomon Kalou getting the winner in the traditional opener to the English season. Regulation play ended 2-2.

Frank Lampard gave Chelsea a 2-1 lead in the 71st minute on a goal that drew a furious protest from United players. They felt the game should have been stopped beforehand because Michael Ballack’s foul left Patrice Evra lying on the ground.

The Premier League champions rebounded in stoppage time, drawing even when Wayne Rooney broke free.

But it FA Cup winner Chelsea dominated the shootout giving new manager Carlo Ancelotti the victory.

“This is sweet,” Lampard said. “It feels nice to make a winning start to the season. After that last goal we could have been on a downer, but we didn’t let our heads drop.”

Nani scored the opener for United in the 10th minute, cutting inside from the left past Branislav Ivanovic and unleashing a fierce shot past goalkeeper Petr Cech. Nani later dislocated his shoulder in a collision with Chelsea captain John Terry.

The equalizer came in the 52nd when a chip from Florent Malouda was only partially cleared by goalie Ben Foster and Ricardo Carvalho headed the loose ball into an open net.

“That was a poor goal from our point of view and we should have defended it better,” said United manager Alex Ferguson, who is beginning a 23 season in charge.

United was playing its first competitive match since losing the Champions League final to Barcelona in May. It also lost stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez to big-money moves during the offseason.