Manchester City earned a pre-season win over Bayern Munich at the Japan National Stadium thanks to goals from James McAtee and Aymeric Laporte.
McAtee opened the scoring in the first half with his first ever senior goal for the club, before Laporte won the game for City in the 85th minute after Pep Guardiola's side were pegged back by a Mathys Tel goal late on.
After a rather tepid opening 15 minutes or so, Bayern Munich would spring to life and come close to opening the scoring on two occasions in quick succession. First, Jamal Musiala saw an effort from six yards out brilliantly blocked by Nathan Ake when a goal seemed a certainty, and moments later ex-Man City man Leroy Sane cannoned a free kick off of the crossbar.
Those two chances sparked Man City into life and about three minutes later, they made it 1-0. A brilliant run from Rico Lewis into the penalty area culminated in the youngster cutting the ball back to Julian Alvarez in the centre of the box. While Alvarez would see his side-footed effort well saved by Yann Sommer, James McAtee was on hand to tap home the rebound.
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Bayern would continue to largely be the better team thereafter in the first half, with Kingsley Coman being denied a leveller by Ederson late in the half. The French forward was found space on the left of the penalty by Serge Gnabry, but saw his subsequent drilled effort across goal well saved by the foot of the Man City stopper.
Some sloppiness at the back from Bayern almost gifted City an undeserved second in added time at the end of the half when a Sommer slip after a slightly wayward back pass from Dayot Upamecano was pounced upon by Alvarez. The Bayern goalkeeper, however, was just able to stick out a foot to direct the Argentine's effort on goal around the post and spare Upamecano, and his own, blushes.
A wave of changes (as expected) at half-time upset of the rhythm of the game, but City eventually got going again in the 57th minute thanks to Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese star bombed down the right flanks and cut the ball back to a dangerous area in the middle of the box. After Bayern failed to clear, Manuel Akanji latched onto the ball and forced substitute goalkeeper Sven Ulreich into a point-blank save.
Despite being thoroughly outplayed in the second half, Bayern found an equaliser in the 81st minute thanks to Mathys Tel, who stabbed home the ball after Ederson saved a Leon Goretkza back heel effort.
That parity didn't last for too long as, three minutes later, City re-took the lead thanks to Aymeric Laporte, who tapped home from seven yards out.
Bayern Munich player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK - Yann Sommer - 4/10 - Almost cost his side a second goal at the end of the first half. He's not exactly Manuel Neuer on the ball.
RB - Noussair Mazraoui - 6/10 - Kept Grealish fairly quiet.
CB - Benjamin Pavard - 5/10 - Sloppy on the ball at times.
CB - Dayot Upamecano - 4/10 - Looks so, so, so uncomfortable every time he gets the ball.
LB - Alphonso Davies - 5/10 - Got forward well but lacked a bit of end product.
CM - Joshua Kimmich - 6/10 - Tidy as ever.
CM - Konrad Laimer - 6/10 - Looks to have struck up a partnership with Kimmich already.
AM - Jamal Musiala - 6/10 - Denied what looked a certain goal by a brilliant Ake block.
RW - Leroy Sane - 6/10 - Hit the crossbar with a stunning free kick.
ST - Serge Gnabry - 5/10 - You can see why Bayern are trying as hard as they are to sign Harry Kane. Gnabry is just not a striker.
LW - Kingsley Coman - 6/10 - Denied a goal by a very good Ederson save. He was lively.
Substitutes:
Ryan Gravenberch - 5/10 - Didn't show much to his transfer market suitors.
Gabriel Vidovic - 6/10 - Impressed with his dynamic running.
Mathys Tel - 6/10 - Bagged another pre-season goal.
Sadio Mane - 4/10 - Loose in possession when introduced.
Bouna Sarr - 4/10 - Struggled with the movement of Bayern's attackers.
Leon Goretzka - 5/10 - Has his work cut out for him to get ahead of Laimer in the pecking order.
Paul Wanner - 5/10 - The FM23 legend got some minutes.
Sven Ulreich - 6/10 - Made a solid stop when introduced.
Josip Stanisic - 6/10 - Tidy at the back.
Antonio Tikvic - 6/10 - Lively outing.
Frans Kratzig - 6/10 - Got forward quite well.
Arijon Ibrahimovic - N/A.
Aleksandar Pavlovic - N/A.
Man City player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK - Ederson - 6/10 - Made a decent save in the first half.
RB - Kyle Walker - 5/10 - Did he play his last game for Man City against the team he's in talks with? Maybe.
CB - Ruben Dias - 6/10 - A decent run out for the defender. Dealt with Gnabry well.
CB - Nathan Ake - 5/10 - Made a great block early on. Taken off with an injury on the half hour mark.
LB - Rico Lewis - 7/10 - City's best player in the opening 45. Worked up and down the pitch well and his dynamic running led to the opening goal.
CM - John Stones - 6/10 - Tidy in possession but nothing to write home about.
CM - Mateo Kovacic - 5/10 - He didn't really get his foot on the ball much in the first half.
AM - James McAtee - 7/10 - Alert to open the scoring for his side.
RW - Bernardo Silva - 6/10 - One the only players who wasn't subbed after 45 minutes.
ST - Julian Alvarez - 6/10 - Worked hard up top and forced Bayern's backline into a few mistakes.
LW - Jack Grealish - 5/10 - Not particularly effective, but minutes in the legs which is key at this point in pre-season
Substitutes:
Manuel Akanji - 6/10 - Forced Ulreich into a good save in the second half.
Erling Haaland - 5/10 - The striker didn't do a whole lot.
Aymeric Laporte - 6/10 - Scored the winning goal.
Kalvin Phillips - 6/10 - Kept things ticking over.
Phil Foden - 6/10 - A few nice touches in the final third.
Oscar Bobb - 6/10 - A willing runner.
Joao Cancelo - 5/10 - A good player who doesn't really fit this Bayern team.
Sergio Gomez - 5/10 - Yeah, he actually played.
Maximo Perrone - N/A.
Player of the match - James McAtee (Man City)
This article was originally published on 90min as Bayern Munich 1-2 Man City: Player ratings as Citizens earn pre-season win.
