Haaland up and running, Bobb shows why he’ll go far and Celtic look sharp FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED from Man City’s 4-3 loss

Manchester City’s tour of the United States got off to a slow start with a 4-3 defeat to Celtic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Tuesday.

After an extreme weather warning and a brief evacuation, City opted for a young line-up, with the exception of experienced players Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips.

It was also the debut of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel for Celtic, with the former Leicester City star making two impressive saves in the first half.

Celtic’s Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn scored the goal, but Oscar Bobb would provide the answer for Man City. Kuhn and Kyogo Furuhashi both scored before half-time to extend Celtic’s lead to 3-1. Bobb would later provide an assist for Haaland and Maximo Perrone added a goal of his own. Celtic’s Luis Palma would eventually score the decisive goal in the 68th minute.

JACK GAUGHAN was in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he listed five things he learned from the competition.

Manchester City lag behind Celtics in terms of fitness

Celtic initially surprised City with their intense pressure and sharp play through the third half. This was Brendan Rodgers’ fourth friendly in charge – he had already faced Ayr, Queen’s Park and DC United – and the Scottish champions looked much sharper.

That is perhaps understandable, given that Guardiola’s weakened squad only came into action last week, but the City manager did appear irritated by the space that was opening up in midfield.

Kalvin Phillips, who is likely to leave on loan this summer, was caught pressing too high up the pitch in the build-up to Nicolas Kuhn’s second goal, 25 yards from time inside Celtic’s half.

Kuhn’s first also came after oceans of space in midfield, which would not have pleased Guardiola. Phillips was substituted at half-time.

The Premier League champions were 3-1 down at the time, but came back to level the score on an entertaining night, with Honduran Luis Palma scoring the winning goal with 23 minutes remaining.

City ended the night with nine youth players on the pitch with an average age of 20.5 – a skewed view of Al-Ittihad target Ederson, who turns 31 next month.

Haaland is operational

Kasper Schmeichel came through City’s academy and made 10 appearances for them before Joe Hart and Shay Given barred his way. The now 37-year-old veteran had a point to prove on his Celtic debut – ironically replacing the retired Hart as No.1.

The Dane enjoyed the battle with Erling Haaland, who was sharp after a good break as Norway missed out on the European Championship.

Haaland was twice denied when he went through on goal, more to do with strong goalkeeping than wilful finishing. Celtic have found themselves a highly motivated goalkeeper in Schmeichel.

Haaland, the captain for the evening, fed a fine pass from Nico O’Reilly to allow Oscar Bobb to score City’s first-half equaliser, then fired intelligently into space.

Haaland was back in full swing later in pre-season, heading home a clever cross from Bobb before being withdrawn just after the hour mark. Schmeichel had been replaced by then.

Bobb shows potential

Interesting body language from Bobb, who finished the evening with a goal and two assists – further underlining his serious potential.

Despite the positive results, the Norwegian did not give the impression that he was overly satisfied with his own performances.

That can only be positive for Guardiola and Bobb made it clear before this match where he wants to improve next season.

The 21-year-old said he wants to be patient and isn’t looking for a temporary move, and doesn’t necessarily judge his progress on improving on the 26 appearances he made in his breakthrough period.

“I look at the players in my position, Bernardo Silva or Phil Foden,” Bobb said. “They are consistent every session, every game. I can work and get much better. It’s about constantly raising my level and becoming more consistent.”

Bobb added: ‘Playing for this manager has always been a dream. If I have to wait a little longer to get more playing time, I don’t mind.’

City supporters forced to evacuate due to weather

It wouldn’t be a City pre-season tour if there wasn’t the chance of a friendly defeat due to bad weather, with storms looming around Chapel Hill an hour before kick-off.

Grumbling fans were told to leave Kenan Stadium, the university’s American football stadium, because an extreme weather warning was in effect.

The scenes brought back memories of each of the last two trips, in the United States and then Asia. Exactly two years ago, City’s match against Bayern Munich in Green Bay was hampered by terrible weather and the length of the match was shortened.

And in Seoul, the pitch looked completely unplayable after a deluge of rain ahead of the match against Atlético Madrid.

Strangely enough, not a drop of rain fell here, the fans were invited back and it all started with a delay of only 31,000 spectators.

Doyle gives short show for loan

Callum Doyle was one of the youngsters who came on at half-time with City trailing 3-1 and is expected to join Norwich City on a season-long loan once the US tour is over. It will be a third successive Championship spell for the talented England Under-21 international, who impressed at Coventry City and Leicester City, as he continues to develop.

Doyle won’t be the only one to leave, with two others – who aren’t on this trip – attracting interest elsewhere. Borussia Dortmund are in talks over a fee for right-back Yan Couto, with City valuing the Brazilian at around £30m.

And Issa Kabore, who played for Luton Town during the Premier League season, is for sale for £15million and is a target for Galatasaray.