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Dean Henderson was the hero for Crystal Palace as he produced two magnificent saves in the penalty shootout to guide Crystal Palace to 3-2 victory against Premier League champions Liverpool in the FA Community Shield final after full-time scoreline read 2-2. The English goalkeeper was in the spotlight again as Crystal Palace won their second trophy in the span of three months, both times at the Wembley Stadium in London.
The 28-year-old was seen referring to some notes on his water bottle during the FA Community Shield final penalty shootout, which left the fans curious as to what was the important information. It is understood that Dean Henderson had done his homework around the Liverpool players and studied the direction in which they will go during the penalty shootout. The goalkeeper had listed the names of the Liverpool players on the notes pasted on his bottle with the direction they would take their penalty, it is widely called as the "cheat sheet".
The homework we did on penalties was great: Dean Henderson
To his good fortune, Dean Henderson saved the penalties of Harvey Elliot and Alexis Mac Allister before claiming that it was the result of his homework. Following the win over Liverpool, Henderson was seen talking to TNT sports where he said, "I love the big moments, I love being in that pressure moment. The homework we did on penalties was great. They have unbelievable players and have a great team but two trophies in three months is incredible."
Earlier, Liverpool started the FA Community Shield final in sensational fashion with their new striker Hugo Ekitike scoring just four minutes into his debut for them. However, the lead was suddenly dismissed with Van Dijk committing a foul inside the box and Mateta converting the penalty to make it 1-1. Minutes after scores were level at 1-1, another new signing Jeremie Frimpong scored from the most acute angle to provide the lead to Liverpool once again.
Palace kept fighting for a comeback and finally found it with Ismaila Sarr scoring in the 77th minute. The match went into penalties and Crystal Palace claimed the title, thanks mainly to Dean Henderson.
