Beaten Man City let in four goals in Stuttgart friendly

STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) - Manchester City conceded four goals in 36 hapless minutes on Saturday as they slumped to a 4-2 defeat by VfB Stuttgart in a pre-season friendly.

Beaten Man City let in four goals in Stuttgart friendly

(Reuters)





The Bundesliga club took full advantage of a shambolic defensive display by the visitors in the first half.

Serbian midfielder Filip Kostic struck after 14 minutes and further goals followed from midfielder Daniel Didavi after 30 and fellow German striker Daniel Ginczek who netted twice in the 35th and 36th.

A week before the start of the Premier League season, City manager Manuel Pellegrini selected a strong, if adventurous, lineup in which 20-year-old George Evans was chosen to hold the midfield behind five forwards.

Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure and City's South American players did not feature at all.

Pellegrini withdrew captain Vincent Kompany at halftime, replacing him with fellow Belgian Jason Denayer in a reshuffle that saw Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony replaced by 18-year-old Nigerian striker Kelechi Iheanacho.

Argentine Bruno Zuculini also came on for Evans and City hit back with two goals in the final eight minutes.

The lively Iheanacho grabbed the first and late substitute Edin Dzeko notched the second, the Bosnian target man converting from close range in what may be his final appearance before joining AS Roma.

According to media reports, the two clubs have agreed a fee of 14 million pounds ($21.88 million) for Dzeko.





(Reporting by Tim Collings, editing by Tony Jimenez)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world