Report: Manchester City 3-2 Bristol City.

City fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat at the Academy Stadium in a behind-closed-doors friendly.

Abi Harrison and Rachel Furness bagged for Lauren Smith's side, but it wasn't enough to upset the hosts, armed with World Cup stars, on a glorious day in the North West.

It was Harrison who opened the scoring early on in the encounter as she lashed a spot kick down the middle after Ffion Morgan's crossed had been handled in the area.

The lead didn't last long though, as Deyna Castellanos rifled an effort into the roof of the net a few minutes later before Man City then took the lead through an own goal on 15 minutes.

Bunny Shaw, who made her mark in both of last season's cup meetings between the two sides, found the net again on this occasion as she popped up in the area to head home from Leila Ouahabi's cross before the break.

Shania Hayles went close to reducing the deficit mid-way through the half but she saw a vicious effort from range well saved.

It wouldn't be The Robins' last involvement though as Furness climbed highest from a corner to head home inside the final 15 minutes.

Head Coach Lauren Smith praised the efforts of her side after a resilient performance in their first full pre-season test, saying: "I'm really pleased with the run-out today. Man City were always going to be a particularly tough obstacle, whatever side they put out, and I think we made a good account of ourselves this afternoon.

"We started brightly and it was pleasing to see Abi on the scoresheet so soon. Getting your forward players firing in pre-season is important for building momentum and allowing you to hit the ground running come the start of the campaign.

"Today feels like a good start to our final preparations and will stand us in good stead to build through the rest of our September schedule."

Up next for The Robins is the visit of Leicester City to the Robins High Performance Centre on Wednesday, September 6th. This fixture will also take place behind-closed-doors.