Real Madrid roughed up by Manchester City in ICC
DUSHANBE, 27.07.2017. /NIAT «Khovar»/. Real Madrid’s preseason in the 2017 International Champions Cup took a sour turn with a 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday night at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, Marca reports.
The lone Real goal came from substitute Oscar, who scored in the final minute to help Los Blancos avoid a clean sheet loss.
After having his starters go 45 minutes in their first preseason match against Manchester United on Sunday, manager Zinedine Zidane had the bulk of the starting XI go an hour before making changes.
Of note was the start Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola gave to Danilo, who has just transferred to the English club from Los Blancos.
Real enjoyed a solid start, with a pair of chances from Gareth Bale and Isco. City were also carving out chances and Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas looked in midseason form with a sparkling save to deny Sergio Aguero after a beautiful pass from Kevin De Bruyne.
Back and forth the teams went and next was Casemiro coming close to opening the scoring just shy of the half hour mark when he stung a shot off the post. Man City goalkeeper Ederson continued to deal with pressure and had to be strong to block a thumping drive from Karim Benzema.
City were a threat to start the second half and a strong header from John Stones off a corner kick forced substitute Kiko Casilla into a block. The rebound then fell kindly for Nicolas Otamendi, who easily slammed a shot home from a few metres out to give City a 1-0 lead.
Los Blancos struggled to defend in the second half and had trouble stopping Raheem Sterling, who breezed past the Real defence before slotting in a shot past Casilla at the near post for a 2-0 advantage.
Moments after a De Bruyne free kick that nearly went in, City made it three when Stones wept in a shot through a flat-footed Real defence, making it 3-0 to Guardiola’s men.
Things got worse for Real, as moments after Leroy Sane hit the post, Raheem Diaz struck a left footer past Casilla for a 4-0 lead.
The night did end on a slightly positive note though, as youngster Oscar found the back of the net with a hopeful long-range effort to round out the 4-1 scoreline.
Real will now turn their attention to the Miami Clasico against Barcelona on Saturday.