The first match of Manchester City’s pre-season tour of Japan took place on Sunday, and it was their first encounter against Yokohama F-Marinos. Erling Haaland scored two goals to lead Manchester City to a comeback victory against the defending J-League champions.
Pep Guardiola’s team scored many goals in their first match since completing a historic triple by winning the Champions League final a month ago. John Stones, Julian Alvarez, and Rodri were the other players that found the back of the net for City.
Follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel to stay up to date on all the most recent news.
Only four of the players who began the game were in the first City XI that played against Marinos in Tokyo, and they found themselves down by a goal after 27 minutes of play.
After Stefan Ortega made the stop on Anderson Lopes’s first shot, the rebound fell to Anderson Lopes, who converted it with pinpoint accuracy into the bottom corner.
Right-back Only ten minutes later, Ken Matsubara scored the second goal to make the score 2-0. He did so by deftly directing the ball into the back of the net with his first touch, after teammate Katsuya Nagato had crossed the ball into his path from the left side.
Stones scored the equalizer for City in the 40th minute, calmly tapping the ball home from just inside the box after Alvarez set him up with a pass.
After just two minutes, City evened the score when Marinos goalkeeper Jun Ichimori gave up possession cheaply while being pressured by Kalvin Phillips. Alvarez was there to stroke home the equalizer for City.
It didn’t take long for Haaland to put City ahead after coming in as one of Guardiola’s 10 outfield substitutions at the halftime break.
In the 52nd minute, the Norwegian, who had a breakthrough season at City in which he scored 52 goals, put the ball in the back of the net from a sharp angle after getting control of the ball from a fellow replacement named Phil Foden.
Twenty minutes later, Rodri scored a fourth goal, which was the goal that ultimately decided who would win the Champions League in Istanbul.
A late consolation goal for the Marinos was scored by Kenta Inoue with four minutes left to play, and then Haaland tapped in his second goal in the second minute of stoppage time.
The next match for City will be against Bayern Munich on Wednesday in Tokyo. After that, they compete against Atletico Madrid in a match in Seoul.