Pre-season friendly: Manchester City 2 Besiktas 0
21 July 2012 05:39
Captain Vincent Kompany scored a fine individual goal as Manchester City defeated Besiktas 2-0 on Friday.
After a defeat to Al Hilal and a goalless draw against Dynamo Dresden, Roberto Mancini's side were looking to sign off from their Austrian training camp with a win.
Mancini fielded a strong side, including Kompany, Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez, Pablo Zabaleta, Adam Johnson and Sergio Aguero in his starting XI.
They came under sustained pressure from their Turkish opponents in the first half, but emerged on top as Aguero curled in the opener moments before the break.
But it was the uncharacteristic sight of defender Kompany sprinting forward to latch on to Johnson’s through-ball and chip the goalkeeper that stood out after the break.
The Belgian was immediately replaced by Stefan Savic before Besiktas fired a warning, Veli Kavlak beating Costel Pantilimon from long range but seeing his effort come back off the post.
There was slight controversy late on as City's George Evans went clattering into Fernandes, but after some commotion, the referee booked the City youngster.
With the result all but secured, Mancini used the opportunity to give some of his younger players a run out.
Karim Rekik, Dedryck Boyata, Jeremy Helan, Luca Scapuzzi and triallist Mario Jelavic all got valuable minutes under their belt.
City will embark on the next leg of their pre-season tour next week in time to face Arsenal in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium on Friday.
From there the Blues will fly to Kuala Lumpur to face Malaysia on July 30. They’ve also lined up games against Oldham Athletic, Wolfsburg and Limerick before the Community Shield against Chelsea on August 12.
