Man City impressed in a 3-1 friendly win over Atletico Madrid in Seoul, with Enzo Maresca’s tactical ideas beginning to take hold.
The plan to get the ball to wingers Savinho and Antoine Semenyo was clear, with the pair taking on their markers and charging for the Atletico box at every opportunity. They were both electric but it was Semenyo who finally delivered the end product, twice setting up Omar Marmoush for close-range finishes in quick succession in the second half.
Semenyo’s first assist was magnificent, with the left winger sliding to stop the ball going out for a throw, bouncing up and beating his man in one motion before driving into the area to pick out his striker.
Omar Marmoush tucks in a close-range finish against Atletico Madrid
City were trailing to Jorge Dominguez’s opener at that point. The Atletico Madrid wonderkid – just 16 years old – poked in after Morten Hjulmand kept a half-cleared corner alive just before half-time. But that goal was against the run of play in an opening period where City created a string of chances.
Tijjani Reijnders was another impressive performer, dovetailing well with Mateo Kovacic in midfield. Wholesale changes from Atletico midway through the second period changed the pattern of the match but City sealed their deserved victory in added time when sub Rayan Ait Nouri made up for a one-on-one miss seconds earlier with a good finish from Divin Mubama’s pass.
City have also drawn with Inter Milan and beaten a K-League All Stars side during this tour of Asia and they return to the UK for next weekend’s Community Shield in Cardiff looking in good shape for the season curtain-raiser.
The key moments from Seoul…
2: CHANCE! Dani Martinez makes a mess of a back pass and Tijjani Reijnders pounces but his prodded shot is deflected to safety by Jan Oblak.
19: MISS! Josko Gvardiol somehow fails to score at the back post from a corner, heading wide from close range.
24: CLOSE! Savinho cuts in from the right wing to send a left-foot curler just beyond the far post.
Manchester City’s Savinho slides in against Atletico Madrid
35: GREAT RUNS! Antoine Semenyo and then Savinho show off their direct dribbling skills, bursting into the Atleti box but their cutbacks are cutout.
43: GOAL! A corner is half-cleared to the edge of the box. Morten Hjulmand keeps it alive and prods the ball through for Jorge Dominguez to poke in the opener.
53: CHANCE! Mateo Kovacic is caught on the ball by Koke who feeds Obed Vargas – but his shot is fielded by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
57: GOAL! Brilliant from Antoine Semenyo, who slides to stop the ball going out for a throw, beats his man and then crosses for Omar Marmoush to tuck in from close range.
59: GOAL! It’s copy and paste, with Semenyo running onto a pass from Gvardiol before finding Marmoush in the six-yard box again for another simple finish to flip the scoreline.
64: SUBS! Atletico make NINE changes – including the introduction of Seoul favourie Kang-In Lee.
Obed Vargas of Atletico Madrid competes for the ball with Tijjani Reijnders of Manchester City
76: OFF TARGET! Lee meets a cutback in the City box but skies his shot.
79: HUGE CHANCE FOR CITY! But Divin Mubama can’t convert his one-on-one. His shot is saved by sub goalkeeper Salvi Esquivel.
89: CHANCE! A great opportunity for Claudio Echeverri at the back post from Phil Foden’s cross but he can’t keep it down!
90: GOAL! Rayan Ait Nouri seals the win moments after seeing a one-on-one saved. Mubama plays him in again and this time he finds the bottom corner for City’s third.
Man City’s pre-season so far…
August 1: Man City 1-1 Inter Milan (1-3 on pens) – Hong Kong
August 5: K-League All Stars 1-3 Man City – Seoul
August 9: Man City 3-1 Atletico Madrid – Seoul
August 16: Community Shield – Arsenal vs Man City – Cardiff, 3pm
