First defeat of the pre-season for Barça Women; a 2-0 scoreline in a friendly encounter at the Academy Stadium against Manchester City does not tell the whole story of the encounter.
The first half was well matched with both teams trying to dominate possession and create chances. Mariona Caldentey went close for the blaugranes on 25 minutes after good work by Alexia Putellas and Martens.
In the second half it was Putellas who almost opened the scoring for Barça with a shot that just flew wide. Despite it being a friendly, there was plenty of commitment on show from both side. The home side looked to hit the blaugranes on the break and with a quarter of an hour to go, City took the lead. A ball in behind the Barça defence allowed Lawley to finish nicely inside the far post. Andress Alves had a chance to equalize before the Manchester club guaranteed themselves victory with a second scored by Parris from the penalty sport.
Despite the defeat, Fran Sánchez’s team can take positives from the game in Manchester ahead of the start of the league season.
