Tijjani Reijnders makes his point but Man City look hot and bothered

If the new Prime Minister wants to free up some space in prisons, he could do worse than sending those released early out to Seoul and putting them in the costumes that the mascots were wearing at the World Cup Stadium. Sitting there sweating as more than half of the stadium capacity opted for government advice to stay cool and avoid outdoors, there didn't look many more punishing situations than being stuck inside a giant furry head.

That will be one of the stranger intros to a football match for the whole season, but then this will be one of the strangest games. The extreme heat made it difficult for any football match to be played, and as such one barely broke out.

Josko Gvardiol summed up the feelings of his players, spending most times between play on his haunches or resting on his teammates as he waited for the half-time whistle that would mean he could go and sit in an ice bath and be anywhere else than outside in that heat.

Get all the best Man City news, updates and analysis straight to your Inbox courtesy of the MEN!

To get it, it's a simple one-two punch.

City will have to hope this game was a big commercial win - although an attendance of 28,000 didn't suggest so - because there was little to take from the sporting side. Forget implementing the patterns that Enzo Maresca has been getting into the players in training, this was simply about survival.

And if the Blues looked hot, fans are getting increasingly bothered by the lack of transfer activity. This match didn't help that in the fact that the standout player may not be at City when the transfer window shuts at the beginning of September.

Tijjani Reijnders had a difficult first year at the Etihad and Nottingham Forest are interested in giving him a fresh start as uncertainty continues around the City midfield. Reijnders has frustrated fans after that dream debut 12 months ago at Wolves, but if he does go there will have been even less point to this friendly.

Having played down concerns over the heat as City landed in Seoul on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see how Maresca approaches the rest of the week with his players. They are supposed to be training on Thursday and Saturday and then playing Atletico on Sunday, and the manager will have to hope that more can be gained from that than emerged from this match.

At this rate, City will have to hope they can save their cooler heads for transfer business.