Manchester City and Liverpool, the winners of the opening game at Wembley, showed absolutely no signs of giving up while playing against each other. They looked far more determined than ever before, especially given the fact that they were playing against each other. Each side provided their best performances ahead of the Premier League season, even though this was considered a friendly between the two teams.

The iconic stadium played host to over 77,000 spectators to witness the glorious 1-1 draw which was eventually settled by a 5-4 penalty shootout which went to Manchester City. However, the overall score was nothing when compared to the overall performance and abilities that were displayed by both sides.

Mohamad Salah

The desire from each team to succeed was noticeable if you paid any attention to Mohamad Salah, who only made his return to Liverpool after a postseason break where he only played for 45 minutes against Lyon before participating in this cruelling test against Manchester City. He was continually speeding around defenders, showing fast feet and shrugging off markers to get a total of 10 shots on goal. Two shots managed to hit the post, while another was cleared from the line which is much more than Manchester City could produce.
This was also visible during the 93rd minute when the Egyptian seemed quite satisfied to have claimed victory for Liverpool with a fantastic header, only for an incredible scissor kick on the goal line from Kyle Walker to avert the danger before it went into the back of the net. Those high acrobatics during this friendly encounter tells you everything about the refusal and ruthlessness of Manchester City. The most intense factor of the game didn’t even occur on the field, but in the technical area where the managers were screaming and dictating the play from the sidelines.

Pep Guardiola

The Manchester City manager paced throughout the game in frustration where he furiously pointed to spaces on his side that were not being exploited enough to his liking. He placed his hands over his head in disbelief when his team missed golden opportunities or even when a pass was missed. He was also found leaning against advertising boards after Sterling missed the perfect opportunity when he only needed to beat Allison to score a goal.

Pep Guardiola was so worked up during the match that he even created a red-card situation when Joe Gomez and David Silva challenged the referee for a high ball incident where the defender from Liverpool got to it first. Pep Guardiola was furious with the fourth official, stating that the Liverpool defender went in on his player with dangerous force. He continued with this outcry until he received a yellow card. And this all occurred in a friendly between these two teams, so can you imagine what it will be like in the Premier League season this time around?