Record crowd at Heinz Field for International Champions Cup game
English Premier League champions Manchester City came to Pittsburgh and put on a sterling display of soccer.
Stevan Jovetic scored twice, and Manchester City rolled to a 5-1 win over Italian power AC Milan in the International Champions Cup on Sunday at Heinz Field before a crowd of 34,347, a Pittsburgh record for soccer.
Scott Sinclair, Jesus Navas and Kelechi Ihenacho also scored for Manchester City, which raced to a 4-0 lead after 26 minutes. Sulley Muntari picked up the lone goal for AC Milan, which was eliminated from contention for the ICC final.
The attendance number was nearly 10,000 higher than the previous best for soccer in Pittsburgh, set when Chelsea and AS Roma met in 2004.
Paid attendance was higher, but some fans might have been turned away by the threat of severe storms, which led to a 20-minute halftime lightning delay.
“It was fantastic when we played in Kansas City and now in Pittsburgh. Coming to this stadium, because of the storm it might not have been (full), but all the players could feel a good sensation when they came to the field,” Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero said.
Milan pushed forward in the early moments of the match, but Manchester City produced its first of goal in the 12th minute. Navas dropped a soft pass into the path of Jovetic, who blasted a shot inside the near post from the right side of the box.
Two minutes later, Sinclair made the score 2-0 with a two-touch finish from a Gael Clichy cross, and the Milan defense looked like a back line in the early stages of its preseason.
“The first 10 minutes, we started off well, but every time Manchester City got in the box, they scored,” Milan manager Filippo Inzaghi said through a translator. “Part of that falls on me because our focus hasn't been the defensive side and working without the ball. It's been possessing the ball. It's clear in a tournament like this that some teams are further ahead in their training than others.”
Manchester City needed only 12 more minutes to increase the lead to 4-0, and the English champions were clearly the stronger side in their second preseason match in the U.S. and first in the ICC.
“It was a very good game for our team. It's always important that we won and also important that we scored five goals,” Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said. “Not only that, I think we played at a very good pace, and that is important for where we are in our preseason.”
The majority of the crowd stayed through the lightning delay, and while Jovetic had the only goal, there was no shortage of exciting moments in the second half.
Milan star Mario Balotelli entered the game after halftime and drew some of the biggest roars from the crowd with some clever footwork to set up a pair of scoring chances. In fact, Balotelli got some fans too excited.
In the final minute, two fans dressed in Milan jerseys rushed onto the field and toward Balotelli. The field invaders reached him and snapped a quick selfie before security escorted them away to an ovation from the crowd.
Matt Grubba is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at mgrubba@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Grubba_Trib.
