Manchester City 3 Celtic 4 – McAtee impresses, Phillips struggles, Haaland scores

Manchester City began their pre-season tour of the United States with a 4-3 defeat against Celtic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, following a severe weather warning and the evacuation of the stadium just an hour before kick-off .

A largely youthful City side, with six academy products (plus 16-year-old Oscar Bobb) at kick-off, found themselves 3-1 down at half-time after Celtic created and exploited space in midfield from May many times.

Pep Guardiola’s men rallied in the second half to make it 3-3 but it was a night where City did well in attack but were punished by runners from deep or outside, this being the -Celtic’s fourth friendly of the summer so far.

On a night where Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips were in action, as well as a host of young hopefuls, here are the biggest takeaways from the night from a City perspective.

Did McAtee fit Guardiola’s bill?

James McAtee has the chance to make his case for a place in the first-team squad this season (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Guardiola lit up the touch paper on James McAtee’s hype in his press conference on Monday, saying: “We have a good opinion of him. I would love to have him with us next season. It can be played in the small spaces of pockets. I think he’s grown physically and played for a team fighting against relegation and when you do that, you get something special.”

And in a few minutes against Celtic McAtee showed that kind of ability, receiving the ball on the halfway line, turning quickly and driving it forward to maintain the momentum of an early counter-attack. Later, he twisted and turned on the edge of the box to set up Haaland for a shot on goal, highlighting the kind of pocket play Guardiola was talking about.

However, whether this is something that is seen again during the actual season is up for debate. McAtee has been out on loan at Sheffield United for the past two seasons due to his own desire for regular first-team minutes and it is hard to imagine him getting that at City next season unless there is a string of injuries, given see competition for two non-Rodri midfield spots from Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes.

The 21-year-old is a talented player, but a decision will have to be made on how many opportunities he will actually get at the club he signed for as a 10-year-old.

How did the seniors do?

Kalvin Phillips returns to Manchester City after spending the second half of last season on loan at West Ham United (Peter Zay/AFP via Getty Images)

Grealish has impressed Guardiola with his pre-season efforts as soon as the squad reassembled in Manchester last week and he looked good in Chapel Hill, driving City forward on several occasions. Haaland was brilliant when he could get on the ball; although he had two efforts well saved by Kasper Schmeichel in the first half, he nodded for 3-3 at the back post with the kind of header he struggled with last season.

Stefan Ortega was given the unenviable task of trying to keep out Celtic’s clear-cut chances after the Scottish Premiership champions opened City up the middle and exposed Joshua Wilson-Esbrand at left-back and Ederson came on at half-time .

Phillips had a very difficult night, with Celtic repeatedly drawing him up the pitch and then playing behind him, allowing himself the opportunity to get straight to City’s backline. The England international was supposed to be the initial plan to help Rodri, playing alongside him and occasionally in his place, but everyone knows it hasn’t worked so far. Little can be gleaned from pre-season, but this was not the kind of start he needed from his 45 minutes on the pitch.

And the young people?

There were two, possibly three tiers of academy products in regards to this game.

Up top you have 19-year-old Rico Lewis and 21-year-old Oscar Bobb, who have both had good game time for City. Then there is McAtee, 21, who has had plenty of first-team experience, including in the Premier League, and then there are the rawer talents, many of whom have only played in City’s youth ranks, such as starters Nico O’Reilly, 19 years. , Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, 18, and half-time substitute Joel Ndala, 18.

Unsurprisingly, it was the most experienced who shone the brightest, with Bobb getting City’s first point and doing brilliantly to set up the second and third (from different wings). McAtee showed his class and then centre-back Callum Doyle, who has had three-year loan spells at Sunderland, Coventry and Leicester City, caught the eye when he came on and showed why fans of those clubs were impressed by his slick work at back.

O’Reilly had a hand in City’s opener and Ndala was a live wire down the left after the break, allowing Grealish to move inside (which would be an interesting move next season, should it happen again ). Bobb was not only the brightest young player on the pitch, but also the brightest point, and City signed Savinho for the right wing, Bobb making his case earlier this summer.

What’s next for City?

Saturday, July 27: AC Milan (friendly; Yankee Stadium, New York), 23:00 BST, 18:00 ET

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(Top photo: Peter Zay/AFP via Getty Images)