Jovetic scores brace to power City past Milan in ICC clash
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ENGLISH Premier League champion Manchester City cruised to a 5-1 win over Italy’s AC Milan on Sunday in a weather-hit friendly at Heinz Field, home of the National Football League’s Pittsburgh Steelers.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men stormed into an early 2-0 lead thanks to strikes from Stevan Jovetic in the 11th minute and Scott Sinclair in the 14th, the two making the most of a Milan defense that struggled with City’s pace down the right flank. City continued to dominate and added a third as Jesus Navas’s acrobatic effort from outside the area was deflected past helpless Milan goalkeeper Michael Agazzi in the 23rd.
City added a fourth after 26 minutes when Nigerian teenager Kelechi Iheanacho, who has been training with the club for several weeks, picked the ball up on the edge of the box, turned and slotted it home.
Sulley Muntari pulled one back for Milan shortly before going into the break, which was extended as fans were cleared from the stands because of a heavy thunderstorm that brought lightning and a tornado warning.
The sides eventually emerged for the second half and the English outfit picked up where it had left off — Montenegro international Jovetic making it 5-1 in the 58th.
Former City striker Mario Balotelli, who sat out Milan’s 0-3 loss to Olympiakos in Toronto last Thursday, came on for the second half and had a goal ruled out for offside.
The match was part of the International Champions Cup, a collection of preseason matches featuring eight European clubs all preparing for the start of their domestic campaigns.
At Soldier Field in Chicago, home of the NFL’s Bears, England international Raheem Sterling scored the only goal in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Olympiakos of Greece.
The winger struck after just five minutes, seizing upon a deflected strike by Daniel Sturridge and finishing.
Olympiakos came close to leveling, but Gevorg Ghazaryan was denied by the crossbar early in the second half before a crowd of 36,170.
The result gave Liverpool a winning start to its ICC campaign, after it had fallen 0-1 to Italy’s AS Roma in Boston to start its North American tour.
Meanwhile, Spanish champion Atletico Madrid took a 4-3 win on penalties after playing to a 0-0 draw against Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes in San Francisco.
The match was notable as the last sports event scheduled at Candlestick Park, the stadium that was the home of baseball’s San Francisco Giants from 1960 until 2000 and has been the home of the NFL’s 49ers since 1971. The 49ers are moving to their new Levi’s Stadium in nearby Santa Clara.
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