With the Barclays Premier League season kicking off next Saturday, Manchester City wanted to put in a good performance in their final preseason match of the summer as they faced Arsenal in Sweden on Sunday.
The two Premier League giants wanted to end the preseason on a good note with the league season kicking off in a week.
Many of the City senior players featured as players like Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta, Nolito, Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Fabian Delph got the start. Kevin De Bruyne, Joe Hart, and Kelechi Iheanacho all made appearances off the bench.
Sergio Aguero gave City a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute when he volleyed home a cross from Sterling from close range. It was a brilliant cross which only needed the slightest tap from Aguero to go in.
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Arsenal equalized in the 50th minute when Alex Iwobi curled in a goal to the bottom right corner, which Joe Hart could only get a hand on.
The lead for Arsenal extended to 2-1 in the 72nd minute when Theo Walcott chipped a through-ball over Joe Hart and into the net. It was a pass that had caught the City defense sleeping and Walcott made no mistake on the finish.
The City back-line allowed a third goal to Arsenal after a bad backpass put Joe Hart in no mans land inside his own box. Hart couldn’t firmly grab the ball and Chuba Akpom slotted home into the empty net to make it 3-1 after 85 minutes.
Kelechi Iheanacho pulled a consolation goal back for City two minutes later after he headed home from a Jesus Navas cross into the bottom left corner. The Arsenal defense looked to have forgotten about the Nigerian who was left alone in the center of the box.
At the final whistle, Arsenal won 3-2 in Manchester City’s final friendly before the kick-off of the Premier League campaign.
After watching the match yesterday, I noticed three main things that should be talked about.
1.) City’s defense looked pitiful at times.
Yes it was the final friendly, however I would have expected a better performance from the back-line. On every goal scored by Arsenal, I noticed that the City defense either forgot their man, let somebody run free, or just had no communication. These are things that should be taken care of before Saturday’s opener and should be worked on repeatedly in practice. I know a lot of players were being rotated in the back-line and some players were playing out of position. But if Manchester City want to compete for a Premier League title they need to be at the top of their game on defense. According to the Manchester Evening News, we could possibly see some experienced players like Fernando and Kolarov in at center-back on Saturday’s opener.
2.) Our forwards can easily be the best in the league.
Sergio Aguero is one of the best forwards in the Premier League and the world. I feel that Kelechi Iheanacho can easily be on that level someday if he continues to produce for this team. If Manchester City play a 4-4-2 formation I feel these two would be deadly as a duo and could be one of the best in the EPL. Both tallied goals on Sunday and I feel both could be on the score-sheet next Saturday as well. If opposing defenses don’t keep an eye on this tandem then we could see a lot of lopsided scorelines for Man City this season.
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3.) We need a vocal leader!
At times yesterday it looked as if there was no real leader in the back-line. Willy Caballero started the game in net and Joe Hart finished, but Hart’s blunder allowed Arsenal to score an easy third goal. With Vincent Kompany most likely starting the season on the shelf, we need either Eliaquim Mangala or Nicolas Otamendi to be the vocal leader at center-back until Kompany returns healthy. Whether or not Guardiola acquires another CB is another question that will be answered by the end of the month. I feel both of these guys have extreme talent and skill but they need to become a good partnership for this team moving forward and become role models for the players on the pitch.
These are three main things that need to be worked on throughout the season. If things don’t change, then we could see a rough start to the season for Pep and the lads.