Palermo 0-3 Man City: Reijnders nets brace & Haaland opens the scoring

Tijjani Reijnders laid down a marker ahead of the Premier League's return with two goals as Manchester City beat Palermo 3-0 in Sicily.

Match Report

Reijnders was a half-time substitute but scored two classy, similar goals from impressive late runs into the box to seal victory for Pep Guardiola's side in their one and only pre-season game before next weekend's top-flight kick-off.

Guardiola also named James Trafford in his starting line-up following his £27m move from Burnley - but the England goalkeeper contributed to a shaky start to the game for City.

Trafford's sloppiness in possession led to one of the big chances that Palermo spurned in the first half. After his clearance was closed down by Matteo Brunori, the resulting corner saw Pietro Ceccaroni head wide from a few yards out.

Palermo had more chances to break the deadlock, exposing an unconvincing City on the counter-attack but, eventually, Erling Haaland struck.

The forward was found by the impressive Rayan Cherki just outside the area and found the bottom corner with his weaker right foot.

Palermo had a good chance to level but Trafford held Joel Pohjanpalo's header after Abdukodir Khusanov briefly switched off, but City put their foot on the pedal with Cherki running the show.

The Frenchman nearly got a deserved goal himself as he looked set to tap home Oscar Bobb's cut back after good play from Nico Gonzalez. But his effort from a few yards out was cleared off the line by Salim Diakite.

That was one of Cherki's last involvements of the game as Guardiola substituted everyone bar Haaland at half-time. But it was Cherki's direct replacement Reijinders who doubled the lead shortly after coming on.

The Dutch midfielder, who joined from AC Milan this summer, made a smart run into the area to latch onto Savinho's pass and fire into the far corner.

Reijnders nearly got a second goal from a very similar move but his effort was well-saved. Yet it would not be too long before he got on the scoresheet again as he picked up a clever flick from Divine Mukasa - with the Dutchman finishing in the same corner as his first goal.

Reijnders could have had a hat-trick in the dying moments as he won the ball high up for a one-on-one and rounded Palermo goalkeeper Alfred Gomis - but tripped over himself at the all-important moment.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

3' Palermo almost takes the lead from the corner as Ceccaroni's header wide

25' GOAL! Haaland opens the scoring from Lewis' assist! Palermo 0-1 Man City

26' Highlight from Palermo vs Man City

33' Rayan Ait-Nouri's effort from Haaland's pass skies high

45' Cherki's effort cleared just past the goal-line by the Palermo defence

52' Doku falls down asking for a penalty but the referee says nothing

59' GOAL! Reijnders doubles the lead from Savinho's assist! Palermo 0-2 Man City

61' Match Event for Palermo vs Man City

73' Match Event for Palermo vs Man City

80' Savinho one-on-one with the Palermo goalkeeper but he misses the target

82' GOAL! Mukasa assists Reijnders to score brace! Palermo 0-3 Man City

Line-ups

Palermo XI: Pohjanpalo, Gomis, Matteo Luigi Brunori, Bani, Tommaso Augello, Pietro Ceccaroni, Emmanuel Gyasi, Jacopo Segre, Claudio Gomes, Filippo Ranocchia, Salim Diakité

Subs: Francesco Bardi, Blin, Antonio Palumbo, Jérémy Le Douaron, Aljosa Vasic, Niccolò Pierozzi, Alessio Buttaro, Patryk Peda, Francesco Di Bartolo, Giacomo Corona, Francesco Cutrona, pietro avena, salvatore squillacioti

Man City XI: Stones, Haaland, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Nico González, James Trafford, Cherki, Bobb, Lewis, Nico O'Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov

Subs: Gundogan, Ake, Ederson, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Akanji, Reijnders, Matheus Nunes, Doku, Savinho, Divine Mukasa