The first friendly match of the new season finished at around 245 am BST this morning and saw Mancini`s men see off a Club America side with a two nil victory.
Both goals were scored in the first half. The first saw Ryan McGivern capitalise on a defensive error to sweep the ball into the net after good work from Wright-Phillips and Dzeko. The second saw Wright-Phillips score from the edge of the box seemingly out of nothing.
The game itself was truly one of two halves. Mancini started with Hart, Vaseli, Savic, Lescott and Clichy in defence with three holding midfielders in Barry, De Jong and McGivern and three attackers in Weiss, Dzeko and Wright-Phillips.
In the first half the defence was impenetrable and the attacking play fast and accurate. Weiss looked quick and much bigger and stronger than he was when he left for Rangers last year. Savic looked good and strong in the tackle and his positional sense was impeccable. Clichy was quick going forward and again had great positional sense. Dzeko looked a shade quicker than last year and held the ball well. His touch was certainly better than last season. Mcgivern looked comfortable in midfield and Wright-Phillips looked decidedly better than Johnson. De Jong and Barry looked fit and up to pace already and Lescott and Hart both came through the first half with no negatives. Even Vaseli didn`t look too bad at right back.
The second half saw wholesale changes and a lot more attacking from Club America as Kompany looked somewhat rusty and Richards although attacking with freedom looked a little on the hippy side! Johnson seemed uninterested and as poor as he did last season. Toure ran the midfield and Guidetti lumbered up front. In truth there wasn`t much positive to note in the second half other than Weiss`s running and Toure`s power. Mancini (junior) was poor and Kolarov didn`t look anywhere near as good or as quick as Clichy.
In all I think we can call the game a success. Two goals scored, none conceded and no-one picking any injuries. The new signings look good and Weiss looks big, strong and quick. Richards looks like he needs to lose a few pounds and Johnson looks like he needs a new club but other than that not bad for the first game of the season.