Match Report and Player Ratings: FC Barcelona 2-2 (4-1 Pens) Manchester City (Pre-Season Friendly) | OneFootball

Only one pre-season match remains for Manchester City, who played out a 2-2 draw ending in a 4-1 penalty shoot-out defeat to Barcelona in Florida in the third friendly of their US tour.

A typically open and fluid first half saw Barcelona take the lead with their first chance through winger Pau Victor, and despite City being the better team for much of the first 45 and hitting back through Nico O’Reilly, they went behind again on the stroke of the break via Pablo Torre.

City were bright to start the second half too and got their reward with a delightful Jack Grealish breakaway goal, before the game’s pace fell away and ticked down to a draw at full-time, leading to a shootout where Antonio Fernandez struck the deciding kick.

There’s been a noticeably more aggressive edge to Grealish’s approach in pre-season and he started the match showcasing more of that drive, seeing one shot blocked and another flash narrowly wide in the opening five minutes, before playing a part in moves which ended with Mateo Kovacic and Nico O’Reilly going close to scoring.

City had the majority of the play in the opening stages and seemed for all the world to have drawn first blood just after the ten-minute mark, when Oscar Bobb and Erling Haaland reignited their sparkling Norwegian partnership. The latter acrobatically prodded the former’s delivery towards goal, only for the referee to signal play on, despite the ball seemingly crossing the line.

Barcelona began to impose themselves on the game thereafter and opened the scoring after a neat move, Marc Casado’s tidy flick bypassing the onrushing Josko Gvardiol and putting Victor clean through to slide his finish underneath Ederson.

City were soon back in their stride though, forcing Inaki Pena into a reaction stop when Bobb’s free-kick went all the way through a crowd, creating a pinball in the box which eventually saw O’Reilly having a second blocked effort of the half, and drawing another sprawling save from Kalvin Phillips’ well-struck dead ball.

The writing was on the wall that City were only a matter of time away from equalising, and just over five minutes from half-time, they did. Jack Grealish was involved again, inviting Josko Gvardiol to come forward and pick out a delightful through-ball to Nico O’Reilly, who wasn’t to be denied a third time, expertly finishing into the bottom corner.

The first 10 minutes of the second half followed a similar pattern to much of the first, with City playing sharp possession football but coming undone with Barcelona’s directness, as second-half goalkeeper Stefan Ortega recovered to deny Pau Victor his second goal after the Spaniard had attempted to round him.

Then it was City’s turn for directness, and the results were astounding. A quite amazing passage of play from Mateo Kovacic saw the Croatian carry the ball from the edge of his own box deep into Barcelona territory, taking most of Catalan team out of the game in the process with breathtaking skill, before playing Grealish in to lash emphatically into the roof of the net.

The usual host of second-half substitutions from both sides did hinder the game’s fluidity, with clear-cut openings much harder to come by after that moment of magic from the Blues, meaning the teams laboured into a shootout where Kalvin Phillips and Jacob Wright had their kicks saved for Manchester City, and Amar Fatah’s goal couldn’t stop the Barcelona victory.

Next up for Manchester City: Chelsea in the final game of the US tour. Here is how we rated the individual performances of all of Pep Guardiola’s players at the Camping World Stadium!

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Ederson – 5

Did well to come and claim a few dangerous balls into the box, but not for the first time this tour, didn’t cover himself in glory with his shot stopping.

Rico Lewis – 7.5

As always, ridiculously unflappable in possession. Could have looked a little more forward but still very impressive.

Kalvin Phillips – 7.5

Some encouragement for City’s beleaguered man, in the 90 minutes at least. Passed and defended with equal assuredness, before seeing his penalty saved.

Josko Gvardiol – 6.5

Straight back into his stride on the ball, picking out a lovely assist for O’Reilly’s goal. His defensive awareness did still seem a little rusty though, particularly in leaving a gap which was exploited on Barcelona’s opener.

Josh Wilson-Esbrand – 7.5

Far more assured in his defensive actions than his previous start against Celtic, adding to it with some positive play in the Barcelona half.

Mateo Kovacic – 8

Never missed a step. So comfortable in congested zones, and his assist for Grealish’s goal can only really be described as genius.

Nico O’Reilly – 7

Still learning his way with when to try and beat the pressure on him and when to just keep it safe, resulting in some dicey moments. Clearly an extremely talented player though, showcased with great positioning and finishing to equalise.

Oscar Bobb – 7

Not quite as productive as his previous two friendlies, and couldn’t quite make the right decision in some dangerous moments, but looked very bright again with his running at players.

James McAtee – 6

Occasionally found space in the pockets but was too easily kept out of the game. Not his best outing of the tour.

Jack Grealish – 8 (MOTM)

Another strong showing from a forward who is certainly hungry to prove his worth this season. A goal for his efforts, and the captain’s armband for most of the second-half.

Erling Haaland – 6.5

Perhaps incorrectly denied a goal when the ball had appeared to cross the line. Didn’t have much involvement otherwise, but got into good areas.

Substitutes

Stefan Ortega – 6.5

One moment of sharp sweeping was all he was really required to do.

Maximo Perrone – 6.5

Drifted around the frontline and picked up some interesting zones, without ever influencing the game to a huge degree.

Callum Doyle – 7

Called into action with a number of big blocks, most notably to track back and shut down Robert Lewandowski when the Pole was running clear in added time.

Mahamadou Susoho – 6

Some misplaced long passes all to note.

Jacob Wright – 6.5

One or two neat turns to alleviate pressure in the defensive third. Didn’t catch his penalty well.

Amar Fatah – 6.5

Went on a few good drives with the ball. Composed penalty.

Luke Mbete – 6.5

Made an effort to overlap and offer width in an unnatural left-back role.

Micah Hamilton – 6

Popped up in and around the Barcelona box but couldn’t create anything.

Jaden Heskey – N/A