The first warm-up match of Manchester City's US tour was hit hard on Wednesday (24th) in the early morning sunshine, with the Blue Moons going down 3-4 to Ludy's in a patchy line-up despite a brace from marksman Ainin Chalainte. The prospect of facing the upcoming showdown with Serie A rivals AC Milan is a worrying one.
Numerous City players were on vacation for European and American national team tournaments, leaving Ainin Chalant and Kiari as the lone heroes in this hard-fought battle. However, they suffered a defeat just 13 minutes into the game, with a goal from Nicolas Gouin, a Ludi striker, making the score 0-1 in no time at all.
Rising star Oscar Bobi turned the corner for City, but it was the team's first warm-up of the summer and the overall performance was not as good as that of Ludi, who had already played three games. Nicolas Gouin added a brace and an assist to take a 3-1 lead at half time.
Oscar Bobi was the man of the match. The 21-year-old Norwegian winger made two good passes in the second half, assisting Pereny and Ainin Chalant to complete the counterattack and bring the score to 3-3, but Ludi again dominated the counterattack, and substitute Luis Berma grabbed an empty net to make it a 4-3 laugher.
Manchester City will have their second warm-up match against AC Milan on Sunday morning (28th). Two Croatian internationals, Gohuasi and Gavadol, are expected to return to the team to energize the Blue Moon.
