Man City beats America in San Francisco

Published Jul. 17, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Shaun Wright-Phillips provided a reminder that he may still have a role to play at Manchester City by scoring the second goal in the club's 2-0 win over Mexican club America in a friendly at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Saturday.

Wright-Phillips, who is the subject of seemingly permanent transfer speculation as super-rich City continues to cram its squad with top-class players, scored in the 27th minute.

Ryan McGivern, who has spent the past two seasons on loan at Leicester City and Walsall, opened the scoring in the 17th. Edin Dzeko and Wright-Phillips easily worked the ball downfield through America's defense to set up the 21 year-old from Northern Ireland.

It was exactly the type of game manager Roberto Mancini hoped for when he told Wright-Phillips that he needed to play well this summer for a chance to stay at the club.

''Shaun is a good player and it turned out to be a good day for him,'' Mancini said. ''He's a good guy. Every time that that I have to choose a player for these games it's difficult because these are good guys. Today he played very well and scored a goal.''

Of more concern to Mancini would be the ongoing effort to seek a good transfer deal for captain Carlos Tevez, who has expressed a wish to return to South America to be nearer his family.

Tevez, who missed the crucial penalty in Argentina's shootout loss to Uruguay in the Copa America quarterfinals on Saturday, is the subject of interest from Brazilian club Corinthians, who had reportedly upped their transfer offer to $63 million.

''Probably I will speak to him, but not tonight,'' Mancini said. ''I'm very sorry for him because for Argentina it was really important (to play well in) Copa America.''

Dzeko played a role in the second goal, controlling the ball then dishing it to Wright-Phillips, whose 20-yard shot easily beat America goalie Armando Navarrete.

''I saw a glimpse of the goal and I thought I would try to get a clean strike,'' Wright-Phillips said. ''Normally I pass in that situation but I got the shot off and it went in.''

America missed two chances early after halftime and didn't get much else going while losing for the first time in four matches this summer.

''We were very lax in the beginning and that was something that I really didn't like too much,'' America coach Carlos Reinoso said. ''America has to be a very serious team, especially when matches like this come. We're on a good path.''

The game, played before a sparse crowd of 11,000, is part of a three-week summer tour across North America that includes Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Manchester City will play a against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Monday.