Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City still has a lot to improve upon after coming from behind to defeat Yokohama F Marinos 5-3 in Tokyo, Japan earlier today, July 23.
Joao Cancelo made his comeback following a loan stint at Bayern Munich, Mateo Kovacic made his debut for City, and Kyle Walker served as the game’s captain.
After the 2022-2023 season in which Manchester City won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League titles, Guardiola’s team looked predictably rusty in their first preseason match.
Midway through the first half, Yokohama forward Anderson Lopes gave his team the lead, and Japan defender Ken Matsubara promptly doubled their advantage.
The enhanced match sharpness was immediately apparent for the hosts, who are presently second in the J-League with 21 games remaining in their season and are coached by former Wolves defender Kevin Muscat.
But two goals in two minutes from John Stones and Julian Alvarez gave City a draw before halftime.
Haaland, a halftime substitute, scored City’s third goal seven minutes later by striking the ball into the bottom corner after quickly spinning in the box. In injury time, he completed the scoring with a back-post tap-in following Cancelo’s cross. Between those two goals, Kenta Inoue scored for Yokohama
Afterward, Rodri added a fourth from the edge of the box to make the score 4-2.
“It’s a good test because we don’t have enough preparation,” said Guardiola.
The coach added, “Yokohama played well on the transitions – it was good for us. Many things we can improve, of course and no one is injured, which is the most important thing. Now we rest and prepare for Bayern Munich.”
After Haaland’s stellar outing in the game, Guardiola asserted that the Norwegian striker was in greater shape now than when he joined City from Borussia Dortmund for £51.2 million last summer.
Recall that in his debut season at City, Haaland broke the Premier League season goal-scoring record with 36 goals. He scored 52 goals in all competitions.
On Wednesday (11:30 BST), Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich will pay a visit to Tokyo’s Japan National Stadium to face Manchester City for the first time since Pep Guardiola and his boys beat them in the Champions League semifinals last season.
