– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — The extent of the love affair between the city of New York and Manchester City Football Club that has been built over the years reached a crescendo on Saturday, the defending Premier League champions touching down in the Big Apple before making their way back to defend their domestic crown.
The brightest light and most popular domestic player in a country desperately hoping to join the world’s best as a legitimate soccer power, United States international Christian Pulisic got a chance to play in the city that never sleeps for the first time as a professional.
The English giants and Italian heavyweights got together for a preseason friendly inside of Yankee Stadium, with AC Milan coming away with a 3-2 victory. It was another Milan forward, 22-year-old Lorenzo Colombo, who bagged a brace for the Italians, both tallies coming in the first half.
Though a number of first-choice players for Manchester City are away from the team after playing in either Euro 2024 or Copa America earlier this month, there was more than enough star power for the blues on the pitch, led by forward Erling Haaland. The Norwegian opened the scoring in the 19th minute after midfielder Oscar Bobb won possession on the right wing and made a run at the defender toward goal before teeing up Haaland’s left-footed effort from 12 yards out.
Bobb’s run and assist was just a sample of what the young midfielder showed in his time on the field, as he was the standout performer for City with his dribbling that regularly sent the City fans in the stands into roaring approval.
Milan were able to absorb the pressure enough to create a few good efforts, and Colombo broke through twice in a four-minute span to give Milan the lead. The forward, who has had loan spells with four different Serie A teams in the past three seasons, hopes that his performance is enough to keep a roster spot for Milan heading into the new season even after the return of dynamic winger Rafa Leao and new acquisition Álvaro Morata join up with the club.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s game, with photos taken by A Lot of Sports Talk photo editor Robert Cole. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 36 pictures in total.
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