Manchester City 2-3 AC Milan
A glamour friendly in New York, the result mattered not a jot but, for the record, AC Milan edged a five goal thriller against the Premier League champions.
The club friendly highlights began when Erling Haaland put Manchester City in front at the Yankee Stadium, steering in a left-foot shot from an Oscar Bobb pull-back.
Lorenzo Colombo equalised and quickly added a second for the Italians as they went into the break in front.
He first got himself on the end of a Samuel Chukwueze cross to head towards goalkeeper Ederson, who could only deflect the ball into the back of his own net.
Four minutes later, Chukwueze showed his potential once more with an almost carbon copy of his that previous delivery and again found Colombo, who was equally composed as he poked it home.
Youngster James McAtee headed in for City to level the game at 2-2 before Marco Nasti scored a winner with a first-time shot from the edge of the box, comfortably placing his shot in the bottom corner after a low pass from Alexis Saelemaekers.
That earned the Rossoneri victory and, although this contest was primarily about building up fitness and momentum ahead of the 2024/25 campaign, the confidence booster will be a real fillip for Paulo Fonseca so soon into his tenure as Milan boss and following a 1-1 draw with Rapid Vienna last week (friendlies with Real Madrid and Barcelona are up next).
Despite their 2021-22 Serie A title win being Milan’s first since 2010-11, Stefan Pioli’s time at the club came to an end after they finished 20 points behind title winners Napoli in 2022-23 and 19 behind fierce rivals Inter last term.
Pioli left the club in May following a run of one win in eight matches.
As for his replacement, it is Fonseca’s 12th managerial role, and his second in Italy after previously coaching Roma from June 2019 until June 2021.
Speaking before the contest, Fonseca insisted his new charges must defend differently from last season which is hardly surprising, given Milan conceded 49 goals in 38 Serie A games last season.
It would also explain why, among the search for new recruits and according to reports, Milan are rapidly closing in on a deal with RB Salzburg for Strahinja Pavlovic and may complete the transfer this week.
Fonseca and the club have been targeting the 23-year-old Serbian centre back for a number of weeks, believing he’d be the right fit for the new project in the Lombardy capital.
They have also sent their first formal offer to AS Monaco for midfielder Yousseff Fofana, although the Ligue 1 side are expected to turn it down.
Milan could also look to sell Malick Thiaw in the coming days, with Newcastle United particularly interested, and his departure would allow Pavlovic to perfectly slot in the defence alongside Fikayo Tomori.
Tomori played just over an hour in New York as both teams used a mix of regular first team players and youth talents, among them McAtee, who was singled out for praise by his manager Pep Guardiola afterwards.
Likewise Bobb, one of the players who made an important impact last term, is hoping for more minutes next season and another fine display will no doubt have caught the eye of his boss.
It will be a very different City when league action begins, of course, with Croatian duo Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic now back with the squad after they were given extra time off after playing at the European Championship in Germany.
City now move on to Orlando to play Barcelona at the Camping World Stadium on July 30 before a final tour game against Chelsea at Ohio Stadium on August 3 – an odd choice given they meet in their Premier League opener next month (even if the tour game was arranged long before the Premier League fixtures were released).
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This was the first time AC Milan have defeated City in a friendly match.
The previous meeting between the two European giants came in the UEFA Cup in 1978 at the last 16 stage.
On that occasion, City drew 2-2 in the first leg in Italy when Brian Kidd and Paul Power found the net before Alberto Bigon grabbed a brace to ensure Milan finished the night level. The second leg was more one-sided and resulted in a 3-0 home victory for City as Tommy Booth, Asa Hartford and Kidd were on target.
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