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Manchester City begin post-Guardiola era with defeat
01st August, 2026 06:19 PM
Manchester City’s post-Pep Guardiola’s era kicked off on a penalty shootout defeat against Inter Milan on Saturday, August 1, 2026, on the preseason tour in Asia.
New coach Enzo Maresca got his reign underway in a mixed start after City fell to the shootout defeat to reigning Italian champions in front of 42,286 fans in Hong Kong
Divin Mubama got the opener for City early on, striking home in the 14th minute to put the Cityzens ahead. The young attacker squared home from a pin-point delivery from Ghanaian ace Semenyo.
City spurns early lead
Semenyo was flying high and came close to City’s second when he burst into the box and picked his spot, only for Josep Martinez to stick out a left leg
Christian Chivu’s side, however, got an instant response from Benjamin Pavard who levelled the scores six minutes later.
Despite the best efforts of Antoine Semenyo and Ryan McAdoo, in particular, the scores remain tied in normal time.
A 3-1 victory in the subsequent shootout saw Inter triumph to claim the Asahi Super Dry Trophy. Rayan Ait-Nouri, Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico all missed their efforts, with Argentine attacker Claudio Echeverri converting his.
Piotr Zieliński and Mattia Mosconi set the Inter on course from the spot before Matteo Lavell finished the 3-1 cruise.
Despite the setback, Maresca noted plenty of positives to pick from the first pre-season encounter.
“Many positive things, especially minutes for the legs, which at this moment are important. In two weeks we have the first official game, so it is important to prepare the legs and body,” he noted.
“I am happy with the performance—always there are things we can do better, and we will improve for sure,” he told the club’s portal.
The former Chelsea coach succeeded Pep Guardiola in City’s hot seat, joining the new list of managers looking to steer EPL sides to new chapter for the 2026/27 season.
CITY XI: Donnarumma, Lewis, Khusanov, Gvardiol (Alleyne 46), Mfuni (Ait-Nouri 46), Kovacic (Nico 46), Reijnders (Reis 46), Semenyo (Sangare 68), Foden (C) (Echeverri 68), Savinho (Braithwaite 78), Mubama (McAidoo 46)
Subs: Bettinelli, Wint, Chabot, Monga, Mukasa, Alleyne, F. Samba, Heskey, Henderson-Hall, Parker
INTER XI: Martinez (Provedel 61), Pavard (Bovio 68), Augusto (Marello 68), Bisseck (Maye 78), Dimarco, Stankovic (Bastoni 46), Diouf (Henrique 46), Mkhitaryan (Zielinski 46), Barella (Topalovic 46), Iddrissou (Mosconi 46), Esposito (Lavelli 67)
Subs: Di Gennaro, Farronato, Sucic, Bonny, Frattesi, Calhanoglu, Mosconi
