Manchester City 1-1 Inter (1-3 pens): Maresca starts with defeat despite second-half domination

Enzo Maresca made a losing start to his Manchester City tenure after Inter won 3-1 on penalties in a pre-season friendly, following a 1-1 draw in Hong Kong.

Match Report

Benjamin Pavard levelled for Inter in the 20th minute after Divin Mubama gave City the lead, and it was the Serie A side who prevailed on spot-kicks after City missed three in a row.

Inter made a fast start as Francesco Pio Esposito poked narrowly wide of the post while at full stretch in the six-yard box before Aleksandar Stankovic's header from Federico Dimarco's cross flew across the face of goal in the fifth minute.

However, City took the lead in the 14th minute as Antoine Semenyo dribbled around Andy Diouf and squared to Mubama for a simple finish at the far post.

Semenyo almost got a goal of his own moments later, dribbling past three Inter players before being denied by Josep Martinez, and it would be a moment of regret for the forward as Pavard scored at the other end after Dimarco's deflected cross landed kindly for the defender.

Though Mattia Mosconi fired over just 12 seconds into the second half for Inter, City were very much on top as Savinho forced a good save from Martinez before Nico Gonzalez dragged an effort wide of the left post.

Vitor Reis rattled the bar from close range after Inter failed to clear their lines from a corner, while Ryan McAidoo hit the post with a curling effort late on following a mazy run into the box.

City missed their first three penalties in the shoot-out as Rayan Ait-Nouri fired over, Abdukodir Khusanov struck the left post and Nico was denied by Ivan Provedel, and they could not recover as Matteo Lavelli fired his spot-kick down the middle.

Semenyo picks up where he left off

Semenyo finished third in the Premier League Golden Boot race last term with 17 goals, while he also directly contributed to the fourth-most goals (21) in the English top flight.

His stellar form earned him a move to City in January, and the former Bournemouth star gave Maresca plenty of reason for optimism.

Semenyo completed more dribbles than any other player (4/6), won the joint-most duels (6/8), created the joint-most chances (three) and recorded the third-most touches in the box (10).

The 26-year-old played on the left in the first half before moving to the striker role in the second, and he was the standout player for City, who produced 2.57 expected goals (xG) from 24 shots to Inter's 2.09, though the Nerazzurri did only have 10 shots, showing they created high-calibre opportunities.

Cristian Chivu's side struggled after the break, with the Inter boss making five changes at half-time, though they still showed plenty of threat without the likes of Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram.

Match Events

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Line-ups

Man City XI: Kovacic, Donnarumma, Foden, Reijnders, Antoine Semenyo, Gvardiol, Lewis, Divin Mubama, Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov, Stephen Mfuni

Subs: Bettinelli, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Nico González, Max Alleyne, Jaden Heskey, Echeverri, Matty Henderson-Hall, Kaden Braithwaite, Jack Wint, Mahamadou Sangaré, Vitor Reis, Divine Mukasa, Ryan McAidoo, Floyd Samba, Max-Edgar Chabot, Jeremy Monga, Xavier Parker

Inter XI: Mkhitaryan, Dimarco, Barella, Pavard, Josep Martínez, Yann Bisseck, Carlos Augusto, Andy Diouf, Aleksandar Stanković, Pio Esposito, Jamal Iddrissou

Subs: Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Di Gennaro, Ivan Provedel, Bastoni, Frattesi, Luis Henrique, Petar Sučić, Ange-Yoan Bonny, Luka Topalović, Yvan Maye, Mattia Mosconi, Leonardo Bovio, Mattia Marello, Matteo Lavelli, Matteo Farronato