Kevin De Bruyne reminded everyone who the best player in the Manchester City squad is with a masterclass against Club America. City's Belgian wasn't perfect in his distribution or decision-making but he showed from the off he was willing to take the risks that have made him an exceptional Premier League star.
Not far behind him in Houston, however, was Jack Grealish. The former Villa man is expected to have a big season this time out and came up with the fire to light this match up in the Houston heat.
To briefly recap something that has been gone over many times, Grealish wasn't terrible in his first year at the Etihad but wasn't selfish enough in the final third and thus not decisive enough to get the goals and assists that would have come close to justifying the £100m fee. He isn't the only new signing to have found the adaptation difficult, however, and showed signs of improvement in the final months of the 2021/22 campaign.
Also read: Kalvin Phillips puts some transfer doubts to bed in first Man City game
While Club America may not be the stiffest opposition City face, Grealish did exactly what everyone has been itching to see him do in a City shirt. He terrified the defence of the Mexican whenever he ran at them, with Emilio Lara earning a brutal yellow card for cynically chopping him down after he had beaten four men in the city centre.
The 26-year-old showed that the spark is still very much alive as he held his own when the opposition keeper didn't appreciate how close he got to causing some physical damage as he chased everything wholeheartedly.
A goal still eludes him - somehow after being gifted the ball in the penalty area in the second half - but this was more like Grealish from his Villa days cutting in from the left. De Bruyne had plenty to do when he received the ball ahead of the first goal, yet it will still go down as a Grealish assist.
His progression under Pep Guardiola was also highlighted in the second half when he wanted to lay the ball off to makeshift centre-back Kalvin Phillips but the ex-Leeds man wasn't in the right place so Grealish had to tell him where he should be.
Grealish may not know whether his face is perfectly symmetrical or not but he does have innate football intelligence and the manager will be delighted to see him grow in confidence on the pitch with what is being asked of him.
City's No.10 will have to watch his temper if clubs target him cynically as Club America did. However, the more attention teams give him the more space there will be for the likes of De Bruyne to exploit.
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