Yokohama F. Marinos may were well-beaten 5-3 by reigning Premier League champions Manchester City in their friendly on Sunday, but Kevin Muscat’s men entertained their fans and neutrals alike with a scintillating brand of football that gave Pep Guardiola’s men some trouble.
Having seen off Glasgow Celtic in a topsy-turvy 6-4 thriller last Wednesday, Yokohama once again took on European opposition in the form of current Champions League holders City at the National Stadium in Tokyo, with both clubs being part of the greater City Football Group enterprise.
And once again it was hosts Yokohama who drew first blood through that man again, Anderson Lopes, with the Brazilian easily beating City goalie Stefan Ortega with a well-taken shot in the 27th minute.
Ten minutes later Yokohama found themselves in dreamland as they went 2-0 up, this time it was Ken Matsubara who forced Ortega to pick the ball out of his net once again.
Despite this setback City refused to throw in the towel and in the 40th minute the Cityzens halved the deficit through John Stones’ powerful effort.
And Yokohama goalkeeper Jun Ichimori was left to once again pick the ball out of his net three minutes later after Julian Alvarez had restored parity for the European champions.
Guardiola introduced his main man Erling Haaland during half-time, with the Norwegian replacing Alvarez, and everything went City’s way in the second half.
Norwegian sharpshooter Haaland gave City the lead in the 52nd minute, before Rodri made good use of an Aymeric Laporte ball to make it 4-2 to the Cityzens in the 72nd minute.
Kenta Inoue gave Yokohama fans a glimmer of hope for a comeback with his goal in the 86th minute, only for Haaland to show his class and complete his brace in the second minute of injury time, sealing the 5-3 win for City.
City’s pre-season preparations continue on July 26th with a friendly against Bayern Munich at the National Stadium, while Yokohama will divert their attention back into defending their J. League 1 title, taking on Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium 2002 on August 6th.