Premier League champions Manchester City kicked off their US pre-season Tour with a 2-1 victory over Club America on Wednesday in Houston.
Kevin De Bruyne’s brace gave City a hard-fought win as Pep Guardiola made new star striker Erling Haaland wait for his debut. Kalvin Phillips, Julian Alvarez and Stefan Ortega played their first game in Manchester City colours.
De Bruyne opened the scoring for the Premier League champions with a superb finish from outside the box at the half-hour mark. America leveled after forward Henry Martin beat Ortega and De Bruyne sealed the win before half-time with a clinical finish from a Riyad Mahrez assist.
Phillips, who was signed from million from Leeds, made his debut after coming from the bench to start the second half as a central defender.
Alvarez was in the starting lineup and showed some skills as a mobile centre-forward and a couple of good connections with De Bruyne. The Argentina striker was replaced in the 71st minute by 19-year-old Liam Delap.
Man City’s next preseason match will be against Bayern Munich in Wisconsin on Saturday.
Haaland, who played the last three seasons with Borussia Dortmund, could make his debut with City against his former Bundesliga rivals.