Second Tier Shows Off As Manchester City Beat Barnsley 4-0

JAKARTA – Manchester City showed an impressive performance while undergoing trials at the Manchester City Academy Stadium. Pep Guardiola's team forced Barnsley to pick up four goals from the net, on Sunday (01/08/21) early morning.

The 4-0 win despite playing with several second-tier players showed their consistency in facing the 2021/2022 season. Some of the young players that Pep tried, seemed to want to show they deserved to be the first choice.

In midfield in the first half Pep used, Cole Palmer and James McAtee to set up the attack. While on the front lines Ben Knight and Samuel Edozie served as the main attackers.

The opportunity was not wasted by Samuel Edozie who was able to complete Riyad Mahrez's pass for a goal in the 35th minute.

Then in the 42nd minute, it was the turn of 19-year-old midfielder Ben Knight to add to City's advantage. The English player was able to welcome a cross that was released by Joao Cancelo.

At the end of the first half, Manchester City took the lead again after Riyad Mahrez scored the third goal for the 2020/2021 Premier League champions.

Notes may need to be given to Cole Palmer who missed a Cole Palmer penalty in the 41st minute.

In the second half, Pep was still experimenting with re-entering some young players. Although not as fresh as in the first half, City finally added another goal.

In the 68th minute, Nathan Ake's action in collaboration with Pablo Moreno scored Barnsley's goal to complete the 4-0 victory.

In this test, Pep did give more opportunities to young players. In addition to wanting to try and see their abilities, several senior City players have also just joined the team after undergoing pre-season holidays after plunging into Euro 2020.

Ilkay Gundogan is the latest Manchester City player to return to training as Pep Guardiola's pre-season continues to develop.

City's pre-season has so far been hampered by holidays for senior players and a number of academy players who are self-isolating following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Pep's first week of pre-season had only eight senior players in training. But the return of the senior players will be tried again in the friendly against Blackpool on Wednesday, August 4 next.

The players who have just returned from holiday following the Euro 2020 break are expected to quickly adjust and build up their fitness so they can be ready for the Community Shield clash against Leicester on Saturday, 7 August.