CHAPEL HILL, NC – The 2024 FC Series started with a band as Manchester City lost 4-3 to Celtic at Kenan Memorial Stadium on the University of NC Campus in Chapel Hill, NC.
The world known Premier League Champs counts muster up another goal to catch the Scottish League Champion Celtic on this muggy Tuesday night in front of thousands of fans.
The match kicked off Man City’s pre-season tour of four U.S. cities that also includes stops to New York’s Yankee Stadium, Orlando’s Camping World Stadium and Ohio Stadium.
The match is the second international soccer match held at Kenan Stadium, home to the North Carolina Tar Heels football team. Last year, Chapel Hill drew a crowd of over 50,000 fans to Chelsea FC’s 5-0 rout of Wrexham AFC in the stadium’s first-ever international soccer match.
The largely youthful City side, featuring six academy products (plus Oscar Bobb, signed at 16) at kick-off, found themselves 3-1 down at half-time after Celtic created and exploited space in midfield on several occasions.
Pep Guardiola’s men rallied in the second half to make it 3-3, but it was an evening of City doing well in attack but being punished by runners from deep or out wide, with this being Celtic’s fourth friendly of the summer so far.
Celtic’s goals on the night came from Kyogo, Luis Palma and Nicolas Kuhn, with the German winger finding the back of the net twice and assisting Kyogo for the third goal with a sensational pass.
Brendan Rodgers has said that he was impressed with some of the football that his side played against the champions of England last night in North Carolina.The Manager says that his players coped with the challenge of coming up against Pep Guardiola’s side.
“Some of the football we played was excellent,” he said. “We showed how much we wanted to attack.
“When you play Pep’s teams, they’re so complex in how they play. I said before the game that, physically, this would be another step up for us.
“But it’s also a step up tactically because you’ve got to be so concentrated and press in the right moments.
“But I thought the players dealt with that so well. It was a really good night, and the supporters were amazing once again.”
Celtic prevailed in the final minutes of the match with a goal to secure the win. In the 68th minute, Celtic had a three on one push against City, With Kuhn sliding the ball over to Kyogo for the winning score.
Celtic is moving on to Notre Dame Stadium in Indiana for their match, while Manchester City heads to New York’s Yankee Stadium for their next contest.
