Team news:
Joe Hart started, as did Ousmane Dabo. Matthew Mills partnered Richard Dunne, and Ishmael Miller started on the left wing.
The match
City did not have too long to wait for the first goal of pre-season. After just six minutes, Joey Barton swung a cross over from the right, near the corner flag. The ball just missed Sibierski, but it landed at the feet of Ishmael Miller, who steadied himself before driving it back across ‘keeper Ingham into the far corner of the net.
The Blues carried on with the lion’s share of possession of a match played mostly a pace dictated by both the warm conditions and the pre-season, experimental team selection.
Miller was involved in City’s next good opportunity after 29 minutes, when cutting in from the left he found Sibierksi in the box, with the Frenchman’s flick towards goal was blocked well by Ingham
Vassell looked set to score two minutes later when he latched on to a good through ball from Willo Flood, but Ingham closed the City striker down well and got enough of a touch to concede a corner.
The hosts came back into the game on 35 minutes, when persistent work by Johnson down the right flank paid off when he crossed to Chris Llewellyn, who took a second to line up a shot, which he duly struck wide of Joe Hart’s left hand.
Ousmane Dabo, making his City debut, collected a header out from a corner two minutes later and shot from 30 yards out, but the ball did not have enough dip on it to trouble Ingham as it went over the bar.
The entire City side, apart from Hart, was changed at the break with Paul Dickov receiving a huge cheer when his name was announced.
The new-look City dominated from the restart, with Hamann looking classy straight away, and it was not long before the Blues reclaimed the lead.
Ireland broke down the right after Danny Mills had played the ball out of defence. The young Irishman found Samaras on the edge of the box, who swapped the ball onto his right and shot, the ball taking a wicked deflection off Valentine before spinning into the net.
But the home side came right back at City, and just before the hour they equalised. Josh Johnson swung the ball all the way over the area to substitute Matty Done, who drove the ball home into the far corner with his left, the pace on the shot leaving Hart with no chance.
City went on the attack again and were in front once more very soon. Paul Dickov found Samaras in a lot of space on the edge of the area after 65 minutes, and the Greek striker had enough time to shoot for the far corner and put the ball wide of Crowell.
Wrexham’s goalscorer, Done, was a persistent threat but came off second best when confronted by Micah Richards, the City defender showing typical strength and skill to dispossess Done and then play the ball out of the danger area.
There was another twist to a topsy-turvy game when with eight minutes left Valentine drove a cross into City’s area. Sylvain Distin reached for the ball, but it spun off him and past Hart into the net to the Frenchman’s horror.
Samaras looked to have a good chance from the edge of the area with two minutes left, but he delayed pulling the trigger and the defence was able to clear.
That was the last chance of an entertaining match, the Blues having taken their chances well, but there may be concern at the goals conceded. All 21 players used looked to have come through unscathed, with debutantes Dabo & Hamann showing their quality.
