Manchester City Enjoys Successful U.S. Tour
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Sunday, August 4) — Manchester City defeated Premier League rival Chelsea 4-2 in front of a crowd of 71,280 at Ohio Stadium on Saturday, bringing to a close a four-match preseason tour delivered in collaboration with FC Series.
The four-time defending Premier League champions kicked off their U.S. campaign on July 23 against Scottish Premier League champions Celtic. The match, played at Kenan Stadium on the campus of the University of North Carolina, marked the first head-to-head matchup between the teams since the 2016 Champions League group stages.
Four days later, New York’s iconic Yankee Stadium played host as Man City faced Italian power AC Milan, led by US Men’s National Team captain Christian Pulisic. The event marked 10 years since the two sides last met, with the previous fixture taking place in Pittsburgh during City’s 2014 pre-season tour.
Pep Guardiola’s side then headed to Florida to face his former club, Barcelona, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on July 30, before traveling to Columbus, Ohio, for its final FC Series fixture on the campus of Ohio State University.
Please continue below for individual match recaps.
July 23 | Manchester City vs. Celtic | Kenan Stadium (Chapel Hill)
Manchester City’s FC Series tour of the United States began with a 4-3 defeat to Celtic in North Carolina. A first half brace from Nicolas Kuhn and a smart Kyogo Furuhashi finish put City behind at the break despite Man City star Oscar Bobb also finding the net.
A defiant second-half display, spearheaded by the irrepressible Bobb, pulled City level, with Maximo Perrone and Erling Haaland both on target, but the Scottish champions found a winner through substitute Luis Palma.
JULY 27 | Manchester City vs. AC Milan | Yankee Stadium (New York)
Manchester City were edged out by AC Milan in an entertaining 3-2 pre-season friendly played in front of a sellout crowd of 46,122 at New York’s Yankee Stadium.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring with a clinical low finish having been set up by Oscar Bobb inside 20 minutes, but the Rossoneri responded through a Lorenzo Colombo brace before the break.
At halftime, both sides also changed into brand new 2024/25 kits at half-time as part of the City and Milan for Change initiative.
Following the break, James McAtee headed home on 55 minutes to draw City level, but substitute Marco Nasti’s first-time effort sealed the win for Milan.
July 30 | Manchester City vs. Barcelona | Camping World Stadium (Orlando)
Manchester City were beaten 4-1 on penalties after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Barcelona in front of a sellout Orlando crowd.
Kalvin Phillips and Jacob Wright were the unlucky City players to see their penalties saved in front of 63,237 supporters at the Camping World Stadium.
Barcelona took the lead through Pau Victor’s low finish, with Nico O’Reilly’s equalizer then cancelled out by Pablo Torre on the stroke of half-time.
City deservedly drew level though when Jack Grealish found the top corner after great work from Mateo Kovacic before the hour mark. Pep Guardiola’s men pressed for an advantage until the end, but would ultimately fall to the lottery of a shoot-out in its third pre-season friendly.
Aug. 3 | Manchester City vs. Chelsea | Ohio Stadium (Columbus)
Manchester City’s pre-season tour of the United States ended with an entertaining 4-2 win over Chelsea in front of 71,280 fans in Columbus, Ohio.
An Erling Haaland hat-trick, two of which came in the opening five minutes, and Oscar Bobb strike earned Pep Guardiola’s men a deserved victory in our final friendly ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Former City man Raheem Sterling pulled one back for Chelsea before the hour and Noni Madueke added a second late on, but it did little to dampen what was a convincing display from Pep Guardiola’s men.
