City started off their post-season tour of North America with a win in Toronto, as The Blues continued the good form which saw them end the Premier League season second in the table. George Evans scored the winner for the English side as City finally prevailed after a number of wasted chances in Southern Canada.
We saw a much-changed side from Sunday’s win over Southampton, with just 3 of the starters from that side remaining in the starting eleven against Toronto; with those players being Yaya Toure, David Silva and Aleksandar Kolarov. Despite there being a number of EDS players in the squad, we only saw Seko Fofana start in midfield alongside Yaya, although many of the other youngsters in the squad took their place on the bench, with the substitutes comprising mainly of the younger players.
As many would expect in a game against an MLS side, City looked much stronger in the first half although the Canadian side managed to hold out against The Blues, being resolute in their defensive display. Edin Dzeko, Wilfried Bony and David Silva all came close against the MLS side, but couldn’t get past first Joe Bendik and then draftee Alex Bono, who came on midway through the first half. Former Juventus attacker Sebastian Giovinco also departed from the pitch, with Toronto keen to keep one of their top players fit and firing.
The advent of the second half saw Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta, Eliaquim Mangala, and Martin Demichelis all come into the side, with Bony, Yaya, Kolarov and Kompany all making way for the incoming players. Both times had good chances in the opening minutes in the second period, with Dzeko putting a header over just moments into the second half, while Jordan Hamilton wasted perhaps the best chance of the game so far when he put it wide past the post from just outside the six-yard box. Aguero soon found himself through on goal, but was called offside.
We then saw some more changes from City, with several of the EDS players coming on. The outgoing players were Edin Dzeko, Jesus Navas and Bacary Sagna, who were replaced by Jose Angel Pozo, Pablo Maffeo and Olivier Ntcham, all of whom are expected to have bright futures at Eastlands. Almost immediately after those introductions, Caballero was required to pull off a good save to deny Jordan Hamilton again.
Aguero looked most likely to score for City, although it was David Silva who pulled the best City chance out of the bag for the opening half hour of the second half, when he forced a good save out of Bono in the Toronto goal, with the ball hitting the keeper in the face. This represented the latest in a list of frustrating chances in the game.
However, Toronto almost took the lead themselves seconds after that Silva chance, with Brazilian midfielder Jackon chipping the ball over the defence and found the in-running Manny Aparicio, who smacked the ball against the post with a fine volley that had Caballero beaten. Jackson then called on Caballero again minutes later, as his curling shot from just inside the box was beaten away by the fists of the Argentinian goalkeeper, rising above his head.
Another sub for City happened with about 10 minutes of the game remaining, as Seko Fofana made way for George Evans after a solid performance. It took just a few minutes for the substitute to score the opener for his club, curling a brilliant finish in from fully 25 yards to break what seemed like a reinforced deadlock. It took a special moment to finally open the scoring, but it’ll be a goal that Evans remembers for years to come.
Making their final two substitutions of the night, City ensured they’d finish the game with six EDS players on the field, as Manu Garcia and Bersant Celina came on for David Silva and Dedryck Boyata.
Toronto almost levelled the game with two minutes of injury time remaining, when a cross from the left found Bright Dike at the back post, but his header went wide and didn’t trouble Willy Caballero. That proved to be the final chance for the Canadian side, as the referee blew the whistle on a 1-0 victory for the visiting Blues.
Many would have liked to see more EDS players starting the game, although it is likely they’ll play a bigger role in the friendly against Houston Dynamo, if it does go ahead due to the severe weather in Texas this week causing doubts about it happening. If that game doesn’t go ahead, we may not see City in action again until July, in the International Champions Cup in Australia. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing a few new players in the squad by the time that competition rolls around.
