By Chris Bevan
Manchester United needed a penalty shoot-out to capture the Community Shield despite producing a dominant display against Portsmouth at Wembley.
Pompey failed to score three of their four spot-kicks to hand victory to Sir Alex Ferguson's side.
United had completely controlled the game but wasted a series of chances.
Darren Fletcher somehow failed to turn in Nani's cross and had a lob turned on to the bar by David James, who also denied Carlos Tevez with a superb stop.
Ferguson has made signing a new striker his priority as his side prepare to open the defence of their Premier League title against Newcastle on 17 August and, on this evidence, it is clear why.
With last season's 42-goal top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo out injured for at least another month and Wayne Rooney doubtful to face the Magpies because of a virus, Ferguson is short of options up front.
Against Portsmouth, he chose Ryan Giggs as the man to partner Tevez in attack but the Welshman made only a limited impression.
And the number of chances that United wasted will reinforce Ferguson's belief he needs to make a goalscorer his first summer signing.
Portuguese winger Nani was behind most of United's best moments as they ripped through the Pompey defence, seemingly at will, but an end product was nowhere to be seen.
Nani's pace worried Harry Redknapp's side early on, with Sol Campbell and Glen Johnson in particular looking sluggish, and as the first half wore on, United looked increasingly threatening.
606: DEBATE
Another glorious chance came and went when Nani stole possession from Johnson and crossed for Fletcher, who was unmarked in the middle but failed to connect with his shot and knocked the ball away from goal with his second touch.
By now Campbell was having a torrid time and he was embarrassed again when Nani cleverly chipped him and also clipped the ball over James before Sylvain Distin cleared the danger.
Pompey created next to nothing in the first half, with their £18.5m strike partnership of Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe barely having a sniff of the ball, let alone a meaningful chance.
And United stayed well on top in the second half with Ferguson's side continuing to pour forward.
Fletcher almost made amends for his earlier miss when he picked up James' punched clearance and lobbed the ball goalwards only to see the keeper somehow recover to turn the ball on to the crossbar.
Giggs was the next player to waste an opportunity when he scuffed his shot in front of goal, before James produced another wonder-stop to push Tevez's curling effort around the post.
Portsmouth were fortunate again soon after when Hermann Hreidarsson grabbed the Argentine's leg and hauled him down in the area but referee Peter Walton ignored the challenge and then missed Tevez's reaction - which saw him grab the defender by the neck.
It took 76 minutes for Redknapp's side to muster a shot on target - a looping effort by substitute John Utaka that presented an easy catch for Edwin van der Sar.
But United's inability to find the net meant Pompey took the game to a shoot-out, only to fluff their best chance of victory.
Lassana Diarra set the precedent when he blasted their first spot-kick high into the stands and, although Defoe converted his effort, Arnold Mvuemba saw his shot saved before Johnson missed to hand United victory.
Tevez, Giggs and Michael Carrick all made no mistake for United who pick up the first piece of silverware of the new season.
Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville (Brown 66), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Fletcher, O'Shea (Carrick 66), Scholes, Giggs, Nani (Campbell 79), Tevez.
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Evans, Possebon, Da Silva.
Booked: Vidic, Neville.
Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson (Lauren 79), Diop, Pedro Mendes (Mvuemba 75), Diarra, Kranjcar (Utaka 60), Crouch, Defoe.
Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Sahar, Cranie, Traore.
Booked: Distin.
Att: 84,808
Ref: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).
BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Manchester United's Carlos Tevez 7.77 (on 90 minutes).
Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport's Player Rater after the match has finished.
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