Victory in opening tour game

City won the opening game of the Chinese tour with a 1-0 victory over Shanghai Shenhua thanks to a goal from Georgios Samaras, which also saw Ben Thatcher sent off.

The line-up had more of a resemblance of a likely first-team line up but concerning was that Pearce tried Georgios Samaras on the left hand side of midfield in what is still a problem area for us and one that will hopefully be addressed over the next couple of weeks before the season starts.

Another area still with a lack of depth is at centre-back should Distin depart as Stephen Jordan was used there alongside Richard Dunne yesterday, which of course meant Ben Thatcher got the start at left back.

City face Kashmira Antlers of Japan in their next game on Sunday morning 11.15 am (UK time).

Match reports:
mcfc.co.uk
chinaview.cn