Man City vs. Yokohama live score, updates, highlights & lineups from preseason friendly as Premier League side concede twice

By | July 23, 2023
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More than 60,000 people are expected to be inside Tokyo’s new National Stadium to see Manchester City start their Asia tour against Yokohama on Sunday.

City manager Pep Guardiola has described his reaction as “wow” to watching Yokohama, who are second in Japanese top division the J1 League and beat Scottish giants Celtic 6-4 in a friendly on Wednesday.

“They are dynamic in their process, the build-up, everything they do,” Guardiola said, predicting a friendly that will be “so difficult” against “aggressive” opponents.

The reigning UEFA Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup holders will also play German champions Bayern Munich and Spanish heavyweights Atletico Madrid on the tour.

The Sporting News is following the match live and providing live score updates and commentary.

MORE: Manchester City squad 2023/24 players, contracts, transfer fees

Man City vs. Yokohama live score

  1H 2H Final
Man City 0 — —
Yokohama 2 — —

Goals: Yokohama – Anderson Lopes (27), Ken Matsubara (38)
 

Man City vs. Yokohama live updates, highlights from friendly

41 mins: GOAL – Man City 1-2 Yokohama (John Stones)

City pull one back! It’s possibly the pick of three good goals, too, Kyle Walker escaping down the left, entering the penalty area and cutting a pass back into the path of Julian Alvarez with his back to goal.

The forward lays possession off to John Stones, who curls a terrific, precise first-time strike into the far corner of the net. Fireworks greet the goal!

38 mins: GOAL – Man City 0-2 Yokohama (Ken Matsubara)

Clinical finishing again! Mateo Kovacic gives the ball away, allowing Yokohama to break at speed.

Katsuya Nagato scampers down the left and swings a wonderful low cross beyond the City defence and on to the run of Ken Matsubara, whose first time low finish is excellent.

36 mins: Man City 0-1 Yokohama

Mateo Kovacic powers in a characteristically fierce shot. Yokohama defender Eduardo is in front of it, blocking the effort away.

34 mins: Man City 0-1 Yokohama

Kalvin Phillips has a sight of goal for City, meeting a cross from the right with a curling low shot towards the far post.

The midfielder doesn’t make a clean connection on the ball, and Jun Ichimori gathers with ease.

31 mins: Man City 0-1 Yokohama

28 mins: Man City 0-1 Yokohama

Anderson Lopes mimicked Erling Haaland’s meditation celebration by a sideline after scoring that goal, and last season’s Premier League top scorer would have admired the Brazilian’s composure.

After breaking clear down the right, Lopes performed a stepover inside the penalty area, found space in front of Manuel Akanji and send in a low shot.

Stefan Ortega parried the attempt back into the centre of the box, where Lopes was given time – Kalvin Phillips reluctant to concede a penalty – to run onto the rebound and fire a low diagonal drive into the far corner of the net under an attempted block from John Stones, who looks unimpressed as he sits on the floor.

27 mins: GOAL – Man City 0-1 Yokohama (Anderson Lopes)

Excellent strike! There’s a VAR check after the celebrations, though… and the goal is confirmed!

24 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

Best shot so far from City! Cole Palmer glides towards the penalty area confidently from the right, exchanges a neat-one two and sends a firm low shot towards the near post, where Jun Ichimori palms the effort behind.

City can’t capitalise from the corner.

23 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

Cole Palmer gets crowded out by Elber and Marcos Junior on the right. He’s adjudged to have been fouled.

21 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

A cross from the left comes to nothing for Yokohama. John Stones then wins possession with a muscular challenge on Elber inside the penalty area, barrelling forward to suggest minimal exertion was required in that intervention.

19 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

This doesn’t feel like a game that will come close to emulating Yokohama’s 6-4 win over Celtic during the week.

City manager Pep Guardiola is in a white t-shirt today. He watches Julian Alvarez produce a burst of pace and fine tackle to almost dispossess Yokohama goalkeeper Jun Ichimori, who might be relieved to see the ball ricochet behind.

17 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

Now Yokohama have a decent spell of possession. Former Brazil youth international Marcos Junior starts an attack on the right, and John Stones has to intervene inside the penalty area.

The home side stay patient, trying to build another attack from the centre circle. City eventually win the ball back, though.

15 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

A slither of play for Yokohama. Mizunuma tries to make inroads from the right but ends up playing a pass back towards Takuya Kida near the centre circle.

City striker Julian Alvarez tracks nips in to win the ball and supplies Nathan Ake to recycle play outside the City penalty area. Tidy tracking back.

13 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

Cole Palmer almost finds the run of Julian Alvarez at the near post with a clever lofted ball from the right. Goalkeeper Jun Ichimori, who’s on loan from Gamba Osaka, is alert and quick enough to collect the ball first.

11 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

City bossed possession during the first 10 minutes. Yokohama have struggled to keep hold of the ball when they have had chances to create in recent moments.

Jack Grealish has a shot blocked from outside the penalty area on the left.

9 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

8 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

Yokohama are playing a high line, which City try to exploit with a lofted through ball aiming at the advanced Mateo Kovacic through the centre.

Kovacic is offside, but his attacking position has been notable in the opening stages.

7 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

Jack Grealish tries to find Julian Alvarez with a low cross from the left. Yokohama thump the ball away.

Cole Palmer has time to run for the first time today from the ensuing attack, stopping short of the penalty area on an angled charge from the right.

5 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

A smattering of applause as City lose the ball in midfield, Kalvin Phillips underhitting a short pass to John Stones.

Kyle Walker’s speed initially deals with the danger. Then Nagato takes aim from distance, slightly misfiring the first attempt of the game. Promising for the reigning Japanese champions!

3 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

Cole Palmer is on the left, Jack Grealish on the right with John Stones in central midfield and Mateo Kovacic advancing high when City attack.

2 mins: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

Stefan Ortega advances well outside of his penalty area in search of a pass, which he takes plenty of time over, facing little pressure from Yokohama.

Then the hosts have a chance to create danger after Jack Grealish gives the ball away, affording them the chance to send a throw-in from the right into the penalty area. City win the ball back and begin building from the back again.

1 min: Man City 0-0 Yokohama

After taking kickoff, City end 40 seconds of possession by trying to send Jack Grealish through on goal down the middle with a long ball. He’s deemed offside.

VAR is in action today, by the way.

5 mins from kickoff: The players emerge from the tunnel! Both teams shake hands with dignitaries. Bernardo Silva is having something to eat on the City bench, while Erling Haaland and Scott Carson don’t appear to be ready for a snack yet.

Carson is one of two goalkeepers on the bench alongside Ederson, while Kevin De Bruyne and Joao Cancelo are also among the substitutes. Kyle Walker is captain.

Yokohama have made only one change to the starting side from their extravagantly entertaining victory over Celtic four days ago.

20 mins from kickoff: Here’s how Yokohama start: (4-5-1): Ichimori (GK) – Nagato, Matsubara, Hatanaka, Eduardo – Watanabe, Kida, Junior, Mizunuma, Lopes – Elber

They’re winless in three competitive matches in all competitions and were beaten by the 94th-minute only goal of the game at home to Kawasaki last time out in the J1 League. But they’re only a point behind leaders Vissel Kobe and showed how good they can be by beating Celtic 6-4 on Wednesday.

40 mins from kickoff: Starting goalkeeper Stefan Ortega and uber-veteran reserve Scott Carson are currently performing keepy-uppies with each other on the pitch.

Meanwhile, here’s how Yokohama checked in. “Kevin would go out every week and know he was going to hurt somebody,” former City defender Keith Curle says of Yokohama boss Kevin Muscat’s style during his playing days.

60 mins from kickoff: Team news! Here’s City’s team…

(4-2-3-1): Ortega (GK) – Ake, Stones, Akanji, Walker – Phillips, Kovacic – McAtee, Palmer, Grealish – Alvarez

New signing Kovacic starts, which former defender Joleon Lescott doesn’t find a surprise. “He’ll be getting used to City’s rhythm and patterns, because I’m sure a lot of them will be new to him, coming from Chelsea,” Lescott tells City+.

Shaun Wright-Phillips is also pleased Kovacic is featuring from the off. “He’ll be excited,” reckons the former City winger.

“He’s still got a lot to learn, in terms of what Pep teaches you and how he wants to play. Once he gets his first touch, we’ll see the bits of Kovacic that everyone loves.”

80 mins from kickoff: Yokohama’s Kenta Inoue celebrates his 24th birthday today.

The Japanese midfielder is pictured second from the left of this picture, flanked by the club’s feathery mascots and team-mate Kaina Yoshio.

100 mins from kickoff: Not a bad setting for a game of football. This multi-purpose stadium took almost three years to build and was opened in December 2016.

It cost $1.4 billion (£1.1bn) – that’s about $214.7 (£167m) more than City’s estimated squad value. The Cityzens’ Etihad Stadium cost £112m ($144m) – although that was all the way back in 1999 – as well as a total of £42m ($54m) to later make it a football stadium. 

120 mins from kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ coverage of Manchester City’s opening friendly ahead of the 2023/24 season, when they face Yokohama at Japan’s National Stadium!

“They will be miles ahead of us in terms of condition,” City manager Pep Guardiola warned before his players face opponents in the middle of their J1 League season. “But we are looking forward to it because it is better than staying in the hotel and doing training sessions.”

We’ll have team news, live updates and more as the reigning English champions begin their preparations for the new Premier League campaign.

Man City vs. Yokohama confirmed starting lineups

Kevin de Bruyne scored against Yokohama as part of a strong City side in 2019 but is recovering from a long-term hamstring issue this time and trained on an exercise bike during City’s training session at the National Stadium.

The Belgium icon started on the bench, while fellow midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who joined from Chelsea in June, made his debut.

Man City predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Ortega (GK) – Ake, Stones, Akanji, Walker – Phillips, Kovacic – McAtee, Palmer, Grealish – Alvarez

Yokohama’s players are managed by a name who may be familiar to British football fans: Kevin Muscat helped Crystal Palace win promotion to the Premier League in the 1996/97 season and subsequently played for Wolves, Rangers and Millwall.

Last season, Muscat led Yokohama to the league title for the first time since 2019, when new Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was in charge.

Yokohama predicted lineup (4-5-1): Ichimori (GK) – Nagato, Matsubara, Hatanaka, Eduardo – Watanabe, Kida, Junior, Mizunuma, Lopes – Elber

What time is Man City vs. Yokohama?

Yokohama play host to City at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. It kicks off at 11 a.m. BST on Sunday, July 22.

Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:

  Date Kickoff time
USA Sun, Jul 23 6:00 a.m. ET
Canada Sun, Jul 23 6:00 a.m. ET
UK Sun, Jul 23 11:00 a.m. BST
Australia Sun, Jul 23 8:00 p.m. AEST
India Sun, Jul 23 3:30 p.m. IST
Hong Kong Sun, Jul 23 6:00 p.m. HKT
Malaysia Sun, Jul 23 6:00 p.m. MYT
Singapore Sun, Jul 23 6:00 p.m.SGT
New Zealand Sun, Jul 23 10:00 p.m. NZST

How to watch Man City vs. Yokohama

Preseason games are not always available for broadcast or streaming, with City providing an in-house option for supporters.

CITY+ will broadcast the game live to viewers across the world with streaming options available via their RECAST service.

Man City are currently offering subscription packages for CITY+/Recast at £34.99 per year, or monthly for £4.99.

MORE: Watch Premier League matches live with Fubo in USA

Man City vs Yokohama prediction, odds

City have opted for a longer break than their Premier League counterparts, as one of the last English top-flight teams to play a friendly game this summer.

Guardiola will hope this extended break after their treble heroics pays off over the coming months, despite there being uncertainty over the future of several squad members.

Prediction: Man City to win 3-0

  CITY
win		 Draw YOK
win		 Both teams
to score Y / N		 Over / Under
2.5 goals
Sports
Interaction
(Canada)		 1.30 5.80 7.80 1.53 / 2.20 1.37 / 3.05
SkyBet (UK) 2/9 9/2 15/2 4/7, 5/4 2/7 / 5/2
Dafabet (India) 1.25 5.80 7.70 1.55 / 2.30 1.26 / 3.47
Unibet (Australia) 1.25 5.80 7.50 1.46/2.55 1.23 / 3.75

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