Manchester City continue their pre-season tour of Scotland this Friday when they visit Edinburgh side Hearts, following a 2-0 defeat at Dundee on Sunday. This is the final game of a two-match tour, before City jet off to America to face Spoting Kansas City in a friendly next week. Friday’s opponents Hearts were relegated from the Scottish Premier League last season along with their rivals Hibernian, and will challenge Rangers and Hibs for promotion to the SPL in the coming 2014-15 season.
Sunday saw debuts for six City players, three of the new signings this season and three defenders from the academy: Willy Caballero and Fernando both started the game with Bruno Zuculini coming on for the second half, whilst Jason Denayer, Matias Bossaerts and Greg Leigh all played at some point.
However despite that, the friendly didn’t end well for City after two first-half goals. After Dedryck Boyata gave away a penalty (which Caballero saved), Gary Harkins put in the rebound. Boyata also helped the second goal in 11 minutes later, when he deflected a shot past Caballero.
City fought hard to get back in the game but were unable to put any of their efforts in. Manuel Pellegrini will be keen to put that game behind him this Friday when he pays a visit to Robbie Nielsen’s side in Scotland. Many will be expecting City to bounce back, but without a full quota of players with some still on a break after the World Cup, Friday could be another frustrating day for The Citizens.How