City lose to Bayern Munich in Audi Cup final

Álvaro Negredo strike gave Blues second half lead

Manchester City narrowly missed out on lifting the Audi Cup in the Allianz Arena, after a dubious penalty decision allowed the hosts to equalise and swung the balance of the game in their favour.

Munich dominated possession in the first half, but the Blues created the better opportunities with new signings Stefan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo both coming close to opening the scoring.

Negredo finally registered the first goal of his City career on the hour, as the former Sevilla man broke clear of the Bayern defence and beat Manuel Neuer with an accomplished finish.

City looked in control at that point, but a debatable penalty was awarded by referee Wolfgang Stark (from, ah, Germany) when Pablo Zabaleta was adjudged to have handled delibertaely despite looking in the opposite direction. An impressive achievement.

Thomas Muller stepped up and despatched the penalty with stereotypical efficiency, and shortly afterwards an unmarked Mario Mandzukic headed home what proved to be the winner following an error by Dedryck Boyata.

It was a disappointing end to the evening for City, but once again there were promising signs for the season ahead and Manuel Pellegrini will be pleased with the performance against the current European champions.