Friendlies Round Up – Wednesday

David Silva gets amongst the goals and Edin Dzeko is at the double as City hit Milan for five in yesterday’s Audi Cup clash. Christian Benteke takes his tally to four in two starts as Villa net five for the second match in succession, while Kevin Mirallas notches once again for Everton as Roberto Martinez rolls out a 3-4-3 against Italian giants Juventus.

Man City 5 Milan 3
Manuel Pellegrini’s side gave Fantasy managers a hint at what may potentially follow in the season ahead with a scintillating display against their Serie A opponents yesterday evening. Stevan Jovetic was handed his first start since joining from Fiorentina in the summer and was named in the first XI alongside the likes of Edin Dzeko, David Silva and Jesus Navas, while Javi Garcia and Joleon Lescott were afforded a chance to impress at centre-half in light of Matija Nastasic’s enforced absence.

Jovetic needed just three minutes to make an impact after teeing up Silva for the opener before full-backs Micah Richards and Aleksandar Kolarov added further strikes, with Jovetic once again claiming an assist for the latter’s goal. Edin Dzeko continued his strong form by bagging a brace – with Navas and Yaya Toure providing an assist apiece – to take his tally to four in the last three matches.

Pellegrini made five alterations after the break, swapping Jovetic for Alvaro Negredo at half-time, but his side failed to find the net again. Sergio Aguero was named on the bench after a recent injury but was an unused sub alongside the like of Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta.

Dzeko’s form and upturn in confidence is already clear under the new manager after an indifferent period with Roberto Mancini in charge. Pellegrini’s show of faith at the pre-match press conference will not only have been music to the Bosnian’s ears but will surely pique the interest of Fantasy managers, given his relatively budget-friendly appeal as a route into the City attack ahead of a kind run of opening fixtures:

“The future of Dzeko has been decided a long time ago. He’s a top striker and a starter and he will have a high level of performance like he did all the years he played in Germany. I have confidence in him and the players who came in are only support for a squad that needs to have every place doubled up with top players. So there is no problem with the future of Dzeko.”

Post-match, the City boss called for his side to improve defensively after they almost let slip a five-goal lead against Milan. City arrived at yesterday’s game having previously registered back-to-back clean sheets but Pellegrini seemed none-too-impressed with the resilience of what was, essentially, his second-choice back-four:

“It’s not normal that we can be beating Milan 5-0 after 30 minutes. But I didn’t like the last 15 minutes of the first half because I thought we relaxed before the end of the game and in football you can’t do that. It’s better that this happens now though rather than in the Premier League so we can sort out these things before it starts.”

Walsall 0 Aston Villa 5
Paul Lambert’s side hit five for the second successive match as they pick up pace ahead of the season kick-off. The Villa boss rolled out first-choice forwards Gabby Agbonlahor, Christian Benteke and Andreas Weimann in the front three, while Antonio Luna continues to look assured of his role at left-back after being named in the starting XI once again. With the visitors two goals to the good at the break thanks to strikes from Fabian Delph and Agbonlahor, Lambert made seven alterations to his line-up though afforded his front three until the hour mark before subbing them off. This gave Benteke enough time to notch his fourth goal in the last couple of matches – courtesy of a Weimann assist – before Jack Grealish and Gary Gardner completed the scoring late on.

With 10 goals in the last couple of games – albeit against lower league opposition – Lambert praised his charges as they gear up for a double Gameweek 1 away to Arsenal and Chelsea. The Villa boss also rolled out an injury update on a couple of new boys, going on to say:

“We play a passing game and we’re getting better and better. We definitely have goals in us, that’s for sure. It’s important if you can spread the goals around the team too, which we did. It could have been more. We were very good. It was pleasing that we kept a clean sheet too. We were solid throughout. We looked really good. The good thing was we were pressing throughout the game. We are getting better and better. There are a few weeks to go and it’s all about that Arsenal game….Hopefully Aleksandar (Tonev) and Jores (Okore) will maybe train Friday and then we will see how they are for the game. They are two big players for us who will hopefully come back shortly. Next up is Shamrock Rovers. We want to get more minutes under the belts of the players and hopefully get no injuries. Then there’s one more after that.”

Prior to the game, summer signing Luna spoke of his determination to nail down the left-back role this term. The former Sevilla man – who was the only Villa player to be handed the full 90 minutes last night – also started the previous match against Crewe and continues to look a cut-price alternative to Matthew Lowton for those looking for a cheap route the Villa defence, with a Sky Sports price of 4.0, compared to Lowton’s 5.7, particularly appealing:

“I feel I have the characteristics to play here. I think I have good athletic abilities – I am quick as a player and that is important in a division like the Premier League. But I believe it’s good for me. Training has helped massively too, it is very intense and great fun. All the ball work is intense but it’s really, really enjoyable. It’s so, so fun. Football here in England is very quick, very rapid. It’s a complicated league. For my own view, regarding my skills, it’s great that this league is fast. I still need to adapt to things, of course, and feel I am all the time.”

Juventus 1 Everton 1 (5-6 pens)
Roberto Martinez started with a 3-4-3 system for the first time this summer as the Toffees edged out the Serie A champions on spot-kicks. Leighton Baines recovered from a slight knock to take his place on the left of midfield, with Seamus Coleman fielded on the right and Marouane Fellaini and Darron Gibson in the centre. Kevin Mirallas and Steven Pienaar once again got the nod for the flank roles in the front three, though Martinez handed Victor Anichebe the chance to lead the line, having afforded Arouna Kone and Nikica Jelavic 45 minutes apiece in the weekend win at Blackburn. Mirallas – yet again – was Everton’s goal hero and continues to flourish in his new position, having scored for the third match in a row.

After the game, though, it was youngster John Stones who Martinez singled out. With Antolin Alcaraz omitted from the tour due to a hamstring injury, Stones was fielded in the back-three alongside Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin and impressed throughout, heading against the post earlier on before coolly converting a chipped sudden-death spot-kick in an assured performance:

“I knew he was going to do it because the last three he has taken in training he has done that. The question was could he do it after Andrea Pirlo and at his age. It was incredible and I thought it was an example of his performance. He was composed throughout and it was a very useful game for himself and (he could be) a very important ‘new’ player for us going forward.”