Manchester City fans were fearing the worst during their friendly against Yokohama F. Marinos.
By MIKAEL MCKENZIE12:33, Sun, Jul 23, 2023 | UPDATED: 13:45, Sun, Jul 23, 20230BOOKMARK
Jack Grealish was on the pitch as City fell 2-0 behind (Image: Getty)
Manchester City were shellshocked by Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos during the early stages of their pre-season friendly, leaving supporters worried about the upcoming Premier League campaign. Pep Guardiola put out a relatively strong team from the off but found themselves 2-0 down after just 27 minutes.
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Man City’s first-half starting XI was; Ortega Moreno, Walker (C), Stones, Akanji, Ake, Phillips, Kovacic, McAtee, Palmer, Grealish, Alvarez. But J League champions Yokohama, who have ex-Arsenal winger Ryo Miyaichi in their ranks, romped into an early lead.
City fans took to social media to express their concerns. @WatsonClemen said: “Looking 4 equalizer against part-time plumbers. We are finished.” @landon_xn added: “Cancel the season. We’ll run it back next year.”
@ballerEH9 tweeted: “Guess we will get relegated.” And @subha_aaaa wrote: “What is happening with us.”
The worries were eased when John Stones pulled a goal back four minutes before half-time from just inside the penalty box. Julian Alvarez levelled two minutes later after Nathan Ake saw a header rebound off the crossbar.
Man City put out a strong starting XI against Yakahomo (Image: Getty)
Julian Alvarez ensured Man City went into half-time level (Image: Getty)
As is the norm in the early stages of pre-season, City rang the changes at the break with 10 substitutions. Only the goalkeeper came back out for the second half, alongside; Dias, Cancelo, Laporte, Rodrigo, Lewis, Bernardo, Foden, Haaland, Bobb, Gomez.
It took Erling Haaland just seven minutes to get on the scoresheet as he fired City ahead with a drilled effort into the far corner. Rodri doubled the visitors’ advantage with a strike from range.
Yokohama threatened to rescue a result as they pulled the score back to 4-3 on the 86th minute. But Haaland struck again in injury time, converting Joao Cancelo’s low cross to seal the victory.
Yokohama are 20 per cent owned by the City Football Group, with car manufacturer Nissan controlling 80 per cent of the club.