Manchester City’s final pre-season preparations stalled on Saturday as they were thumped by Stuttgart at the Mercedes Benz Arena. With Kelechi Iheanacho scoring a consolation goal.
Manuel Pellegrini named a strong side which included Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Vincent Kompany, but the trio were powerless against the Bundesliga side.
Filip Kostic, Daniel Didavi and a brace from Daniel Ginczek sent the hosts flying into a 4-0 lead at half time before Kelechi Iheanacho and Edin Dzeko halved the deficit late on.
The hosts picked the City defence four times in the opening half to the delight of more than 40,000 fans.
It took just 15 minutes for Stuttgart to break the deadlock as Kostic ran on to a long ball before slipping between Bacary Sagna and Kompany to slot home.
It was 2-0 just a quarter of an hour later as Didavi received the ball from team-mates Florian Klein and coolly placed the ball between Joe Hart’s legs.
Hart was not a happy bunny in the City goal but worse was still to come for the England No 1 as Ginczek was left all alone in the box to score from close range.
And he has his second of the game and Stuttgart’s fourth before the break as City endured a first half from hell in Germany.
The Premier League side rung the changes at the break and added extra urgency upfront via Iheanacho.
His addition helped the Citizens limit the damage as he finished following good work from Sterling with 83 minutes played.
And Edin Dzeko, who also came on as a second-half substitute, grabbed another with just minutes of the clash left thanks to good work from Sterling again, but it proved too little too late.