Soccer <\/p>\n
Enzo Maresca believes Manchester City’s work on the training ground is already translating to their pre-season performances, and he expects them to go through the gears when their World Cup stars return.<\/p>\n
Having lost on penalties to Inter following a 1-1 draw last Saturday, City claimed their first victory of pre-season against a K-League All-Stars team on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Divin Mubama struck for City in the first half, though the K-League XI did briefly draw level at 1-1 following Kim Dae-won’s near-post finish.<\/p>\n
Reijnders’ goal was the pick of the bunch as, amid reports he could leave for Nottingham Forest, he finished first time after being picked out by a wonderful back-heel from Antoine\u00a0Semenyo.<\/p>\n
Despite those members of City’s squad that went deep at the World Cup still being absent, Maresca named a strong line-up, with\u00a0Phil Foden, Ait-Nouri and Semenyo playing behind young striker Mubama.<\/p>\n
Rico Lewis, Ruben Dias, Abdukodir Khusanov and Josko Gvardiol formed the back four in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma, while Mateo Kovacic partnered Reijnders in midfield.<\/p>\n
City fired off 22 shots in total, hitting the target on 13 occasions while racking up 2.7\u00a0expected goals (xG), compared to the K-League XI’s six shots (one on target) and 0.4\u00a0xG.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The match was played in stifling heat in Seoul, where temperatures reached around 36 degrees Celsius, leaving Maresca impressed by his team’s work rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“For us, the result is always important, even if it is a friendly game. But the most important thing is to see the effort of the players, especially in this weather,” Maresca told City’s website, having earned his first win since succeeding Pep Guardiola.<\/p>\n
“Also, compared to the last game, in some respects, we did things better. The good thing is the players tried to adapt. They made an effort for 95 minutes.<\/p>\n
“Since day one, the players are putting in the effort, and I can see that they trust the job we are doing and, for me, this is the main thing.”<\/p>\n
\nThat link-up \u00a0pic.twitter.com\/VxnSbibuWu<\/a><\/p>\n