Manchester City beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 in a pre-season friendly in Asia, with manager Enzo Maresca's attacking style built around crosses into the six-yard box looking tailor-made for Erling Haaland, who was not involved in the game.
Omar Marmoush scored twice in two minutes just before the hour mark, both close-range finishes from crosses aimed at the six-yard box. Antoine Semenyo set up the first, hitting the area for Marmoush to tap in.
Maresca showed frustration earlier in the match when Savinho appeared to have created clear scoring chances but no teammate arrived to finish them. Maresca bowed his head at one point and threw out his arms after Marmoush and others failed to get on the end of crosses.
"We cannot create the amount of situations and not finish the action," Maresca said. "There we need to be clinical. We need to improve. We are getting better there. With Erling we can be even more dangerous."
Words were exchanged at half time, and Marmoush and Phil Foden were more ready afterward to attack Semenyo's crosses, crashing into the box as they had practiced in training the evening before. Rayan Ait-Nouri scored a late third to complete the win.
Maresca also left the door open to a possible exit for Marmoush, with Tottenham Hotspur monitoring his situation. "The players want to play," Maresca said. "When they don't play, they're not happy. Omar's desire is probably to play more minutes. It doesn't mean that he isn't going to play more minutes here but it's also his decision."
Spurs target Savinho shows what he can offer City
Tottenham also retain interest in Savinho, valued at £70million, who had signaled a willingness to seek a new challenge earlier in the summer. The Brazilian winger showed Maresca what he can offer on the right, producing dangerous cutbacks and repeatedly beating his full back on the outside.
But reminders of his profligacy were also on display. Savinho has scored just seven times in 84 games across all competitions, and after pouncing on a mistake he chose to check back and curl an effort from outside the box that went wide, rather than drive at goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Maresca was also frustrated when Semenyo found a dangerous area but City's other winger was still trailing behind.
City will need Anderson to quickly get up to speed
Despite dominating, City fell behind before Marmoush's brace. Jorge Dominguez, a 16-year-old defender, scored a scrappy opener, stabbing the ball past goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from a second-phase corner.
Maresca was more concerned by the space afforded to Rodrigo Mendoza, a 21-year-old signed from Elche in February, who caused problems for Mateo Kovacic and created two decent chances. City will need to tighten that area of the pitch before facing Arsenal in Sunday's Community Shield in Cardiff.
Elliot Anderson is not linking up with the squad until Wednesday, meaning Kovacic is likely to partner Tijjani Reijnders again. The pair have been strong on the ball in South Korea but have defensive positioning issues to address. With Barcelona expected to complete a deal for Rodri, City will need Anderson to get up to speed quickly.
