Stevan Jovetic – and a severe thunder and lightning storm – lit up Pittsburgh as Manchester City continued their fine US Tour form by beating Italians AC Milan 5-1.
Montenegrin Jovetic, who endured a miserable past season with injuries and poor form, scored in either half and set City on their way as Scott Sinclair, Jesus Navas and Kelechi Iheanacho strikes put the Premier League champions 4-0 after 26 minutes.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini was not only delighted by the result but also by Jovetic’s improved display ahead of what will be another hard season as City look to challenge on all fronts.
“Stevan had a lot of bad luck last year. He had a lot of injuries,” said the Chilean.
“In this year he has started the pre-season how he finished last year: playing well.
“Now he will work harder and continue every day, he will demonstrate why he is here at Manchester City because I think he is a very good player.”
The 24-year-old wowed the 34,347 spectators – around 10,000 more than any previous football crowd in Pittsburgh – with a fine all-round effort, hitting home just before the hour mark to cap an excellent evening where there was more than one sparkling display.
The players were kept off the pitch for 30 minutes after half-time before conditions were safe enough and it was ex-City striker Mario Balotelli who provided the second half’s best moment, posing for a selfie with some invading fans.
#milan#selfie#Balotelli#me#ManCityVsMilan pic.twitter.com/17fQ1OJ1ob
— NAWAF (@NA_B27) July 27, 2014
City next play Liverpool at the Yankee Stadium in New York on Wednesday (early hours of Thursday for British audiences) before closing out their tour against Greek club Olympiakos in Minneapolis at the weekend.
Main image courtesy of Manchester City FC via YouTube, Twitter image from NA_B27, with thanks.
