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Mario Gotze scored a penalty in the first period to lead Borussia Dortmund to a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the opening game of the 2018 International Champions Cup Friday at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Gotze stepped on the spot in the 28th minute after American teen Christian Pulisic earned the penalty. City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo's tense hand attempt was the highlight of a strong pre-season performance for the German midfielder.
Meanwhile, Riyadh Mahrez made his debut for the defending champions of P the League and provided some sparks for an attack on the city.
City acquired Mahrez on a £ 60 million transfer from Leicester City earlier this month. The Algerian international has been one of the driving forces of Foxes' miraculous run at the 2015-16 Premier League Championship, and he will try to help his new club get consecutive titles.
The 27-year-old winger sailed a near-no-nonsense first match with the Sky Blues. He controlled the pace of play as he played the ball and enhanced his playing ability, accentuated by a well placed free-kick that forced Dortmund goalkeeper Marwin Hitz to stop just before the final whistle.
Stuart Brennan @ StuBrennanMEN
This silky touch of Mahrez has been so exquisite up here for #MCFC (death kiss warning)
Ian Cheeseman @ IanCheeseman
Free kick at #ManCity – Lukas Nmecha brought down – not the natural side for Mahrez but he produced a big free kick saved by keeping him – HT in the rain 1-0 City trail [19659016] Mahrez has been subbed out after 72 minutes, but its impact is expected to steadily increase as the new term gets closer. "The city has the ambition to go further than the quarter-finals of the Champions League like last season," he told reporters . in his introductory press conference. "I made the decision to come here because I want to be part of the Champions League for the big clubs, they are a great club, they have everything to try to win."
Meanwhile, Pulisic is facing a key season for Dortmund. While the 19-year-old American is also considered the centerpiece of the US national team, he has just won a campaign for the BVB with four goals and five assists in 32 Bundesliga appearances.
The talented midfielder must work to become a more consistent threat of attack. He started the pre-season well in this respect as he was constantly in the last third and shot the penalty that led to the opening of Gotze's goal from the point of the meeting [19659010] City Watch @ City_Watch
] Zinchenko will have nightmares about Pulisic. The American gives Oleks a hard time
Marc Stein @ TheSteinLine
Why does every touch of Pulisic bring all the missing suffering back to Russia?
said, it was a fairly standard pre-season setup with each manager testing a variety of players and using many substitutions. It was far from being a clinical performance either side with 23 faults combined versus six shots on target
Both clubs will return to action next week against Liverpool as their American tours continue. Dortmund will face the Reds at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, while Manchester City will face their EPL counterparts on Wednesday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
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