Stuttgart vs. Manchester City: Score and Reaction from 2015 Pre-Season Friendly

Stuttgart thrashed Manchester City 4-2 in their pre-season friendly just one week before the start of the new Premier League campaign.

Manuel Pellegrini's side conceded all four goals inside the first half, with goals from Filip Kostic and Daniel Didavi opening the scoring before a brace from Daniel Ginczek completed the rout. City improved somewhat in the second half and claimed two consolation goals in the final minutes through Kelechi Iheanacho and Edin Dzeko.

City's defending was particularly poor, while there will also be concerns that a strong attacking lineup could not penetrate Stuttgart's defence until late in the game.

Yaya Toure was rested for the clash after picking up a knock in the defeat to Real Madrid, but City started with plenty of attacking talent in the side including Wilfried Bony, Samir Nasri, David Silva and Raheem Sterling.

THOMAS KIENZLE/Getty Images

City actually began the brighter of the two sides, with Sterling testing the Stuttgart 'keeper early on before Bacary Sagna headed Aleksandar Kolarov's free-kick wide.

Kostic broke the deadlock after 15 minutes as he latched onto a header from the left wing, squirming between Sagna, Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala before finishing neatly past Joe Hart.

It was almost 2-0 six minutes later when Kolarov was forced to clear Christian Gentner's effort off the line, after the midfielder dinked the ball over Hart following yet more poor defending from Mangala.

Kolarov was at fault for the Didavi's goal though, being caught out of position for the midfielder to finish well after Stuttgart carved City open with some exquisite play:

Things went from bad to worse quickly for the Sky Blues as the Reds continued their assault, giving City's back line no time to regain their composure.

Ginczek made it 3-0 after Stuttgart once again exposed City down their left flank, with Martin Harnik crossing to the unmarked German, who made no mistake from six yards:

Two minutes later, Ginczek doubled his tally after besting Sagna and finishing powerfully:

The Manchester Evening News' Simon Bajkowski and the Sunday World's Kevin Palmer were less than impressed:

A host of substitutions on both sides disrupted the flow of the second half, the only chances of note falling to Sterling and Iheanacho, but both failed to test Stuttgart from promising positions inside the box.

The Nigerian found the net inside the final 10 minutes after he tapped home Sterling's excellent cross, before the Englishman again turned provider for Dzeko to salvage some credibility for his side in the final moments.

City were dreadful in defence throughout the first half and will need to improve dramatically ahead of the new season.

The Sky Blues face Chelsea and a tricky away tie with Everton in their first three games, and on Saturday's evidence, their opponents will have little to fear.