A goalscoring debut from Erling Haaland helped Manchester City beat Bayern Munich in Wisconsin.
The big news from Pep Guardiola’s side was a debut for star signing Haaland, who started in a very strong City line-up and scored after just twelve minutes.
The game, which kicked off 15 minutes late due to weather conditions, was delayed again immediately after Haaland’s goal, eventually resuming almost an hour later.
Here’s how City Xtra rated the players…
Ederson - 6
Advert
Rarely needed to use his gloves but didn’t do much wrong.
Joao Cancelo - 6
Roamed forward more than a few times and sent in one particularly great cross.
Ruben Dias - 6
Good to see him back on the pitch ahead of the Liverpool game.
Nathan Aké - 7
Put in some great tackles and blocks and offered his usual threat from set pieces. So far, it’s looking very useful that we didn’t sell him.
Josh Wilson-Esbrand - 7
A proper marauding full-back performance, which is always fun to watch. Hopefully his display means Pep wants to use him more in the actual season, and that the full-backs will be given more licence to make forward runs too.
Rodri - 7
So good at making difficult things look easy, and seems to have grown an extra pair of eyes on the back of his head.
Bernardo Silva - 6
Just as technically impressive and hard-working as we’ve come to expect from him, and looks up for the Community Shield.
Kevin De Bruyne - 7
A De Bruyne ready to start the season already up to speed is a dangerous prospect for the rest of the league. Involved in the Haaland goal and played a brilliant ball to Aké late in the first half.
Jack Grealish - 8
Assisting Haaland’s goal was just the highlight of an excellent overall performance. This was possibly the most confident and dangerous Grealish we’ve seen since his move, and the first time it’s felt like we’re watching a player who could easily push for PFA Player of the Year in the near future.
Erling Haaland - 8
Scored a good first goal and remained dangerous for the whole first half, and was unfortunate to see his second ruled out for a tight offside. Much better in the build-up than many tried to convince us.
Riyad Mahrez - 6
Not at his best, which is understandable given how little time the players have had to sharpen up this summer.
Substitutes:
Julián Álvarez - 6
Another energetic performance from the new signing, who seems to be very comfortable in the system already.
Kyle Walker - N/A
No real time to mark.
Cole Palmer - N/A
No real time to mark, but looked lively.
Kalvin Phillips - N/A
No real time to mark.
Rico Lewis - N/A
No time to mark, but did almost score a brilliant goal.
Topics: Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Erling Haaland, Premier League
Nathan Allen