Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was happy with his side’s display against Borussia Dortmund despite the 1-0 defeat in Chicago.
Mario Gotze scored the only goal of the pre-season clash from the penalty spot after Oleks Zinchenko had brought down Christian Pulisic.
The majority of Guardiola’s squad are on breaks after their World Cup exploits but new signing Riyad Mahrez made his first appearance for the club against the Germans in a youthful line-up.
Guardiola told the club’s official website after the game: “We did many good things. It is really good for the future. We played against one of the best teams in Germany and we did many good things.
“We spoke in the week about courage, intensity and a desire to play. The players did very well and I am so satisfied with the performance of these guys.”
Goalkeeper Joe Hart, whose future remains up in the air, was given a run out in the second half by Guardiola, as was winger Leroy Sane, who was surprisingly left out of Germany’s World Cup squad.
Guardiola, quoted on the club’s Twitter account, said of Hart: “We have four goalkeepers, we decided today to use @C1audioBravo and Joe Hart. What Joe has done in the past 12 years in undeniable and we know his quality.”
And the Spaniard said the aim with Sane is to get him fit, adding: “Leroy Sane arrived two days ago. We needed some minutes to start and put his head on the field and fight and run. He was ready to play 15-20 minutes but no more than that.
“All the players did very good things. We of course prepared to win but it’s normal (not to win games) in this part of the season – it just prepares the team. They are coming back step by step.”
