Man City 2 Club America 1: Kevin De Bruyne strikes twice but new boy Erling Haaland made to wait for debut
KEVIN DE BRUYNE made sure new boy Erling Haaland was not required as he struck twice in the first half.
Pep Guardiola opted to leave his Norwegian signing on the bench as he only began full training at the start of this week.
And there was no need for the Manchester City boss to take any risks with his Belgian ace in this kind of form.
KdB picked up where he left off at the end of last season by going through his full repertoire in front of a crowd of over 61,000.
All three goals on a sweltering night in Texas came in the first half – and there was also a little bit of needle, thanks to City’s record signing Jack Grealish.
The England man felt he might have had an early penalty as he tried to latch onto a De Bruyne pass but the referee was not convinced.
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As he got to his feet the former Aston Villa skipper squared up to legendary Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa with team-mates from both sides wading in.
Grealish was booed every time he got the ball for the next few minutes as a result.
City took the lead on the half hour as De Bruyne seized on a loose ball on the edge of the box and drifted inside before curling home.
The Mexican team levelled when Henry Martin held off a challenge from Nathan Ake and rolled a shot underneath new City goalie Stefan Ortega.
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Grealish was convinced he should have had another penalty when he was dragged down in the box – and replays showed he had a right to feel aggrieved.
But De Bruyne put his team back on top before the interval as he latched onto a pass from Riyad Mahrez and slotted in through the keeper’s legs.
In the absence of Haaland, fellow new boy Julian Alvarez had caught the eye with his link up play down the middle.
Kalvin Phillips also got a run-out after the break, but was pressed into emergency action as a centre back for much of it.
Club America had clearly picked out Grealish for some rough treatment but however hard he tried the £100million could not seem to punish them.
City will move on to Green Bay on Friday ready for a meeting with Bayern Munich the following day and must decide whether Haaland is ready to play a part then.
