Manchester City had to make a managerial change for Saturday night's game.
Instead of Manchester City head coach Roberto Mancini, the team was managed by assistant coach Brian Kidd, who was a standout player with Manchester United. Mancini, a former star player for Sampdoria, left the team to return to Italy because of his father's health problems.
Mancini was manager of Inter Milan from 2004 to 2008, including the record-breaking season in 2006-07 when Inter Milan totaled 97 points, an Italian League record and, until 2009-10, a European record.
During the run, Inter Milan won 17 consecutive games in Serie A.
He left Inter Milan after the 2007-08 season, after a third consecutive Serie A title. Mancini returned to the sideline with Manchester City in December 2009.
The extent of his father's health problems were not known.
Subdued atmosphere
Tailgating was at a minimum for the friendly, and the pre-game buzz around the stadium was nowhere near that at last year's Chelsea FC-AC Milan match. But some of the 36,569 fans arrived early to watch their teams warm up, most sporting the black and blue colors of Inter Milan.
Jerseys of Inter Milan team captain Javier Zanetti, forward Amantino Mancini and forward Diego Milito were the most common among the black and blues. Landon Donovan and David Beckham jerseys were also prevalent.
There was even a sighting — and sounding — of the controversial vuvuzela horns before the game. The small but loud horns became an issue during the recent World Cup in South Africa because of the constant noise during games.
Give me an 'O'
The national anthem was sung by Sara Lauver of Baltimore. It seemed that many in attendance were not familiar with the Baltimore practice of yelling "O" during the singing of the national anthem, when only about 25 percent of the crowd honored the tradition.
Corner kicks
The ball kids for Saturday night's game were supplied by the Baltimore Bays. … The referee was Baldomero Toedo. Assistant referees were Craig Lowry and Jason Cullum. The fourth official was Mark Geiger. … Inter Milan's first scoring chance came at 6:30, as a free kick from Esteban Cambiasso set up Joel Chukwuma Obi for a header that went just over the crossbar. … The 18-year-old midfielder Philippe Coutinho provided early excitement for Inter Milan, executing quick touch-passing plays to push the Manchester City defense. … In the 16th minute, Inter Milan forward Goran Pandev appeared to have the game's first score, but his goal was called off because of offsides. … Some tensions boiled in the 19th minute as Pandev and Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany exchanged words and shoves. Both were given yellow cards. … Manchester City midfielder Patrick Vieira was given a red card in the 21st minute for an elbow to the head of Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi, who remained in the game after being attended to by the team's medical staff. … Inter Milan defenseman Cristian Chivu got a yellow card in the 31st minute for an elbow to the back of midfielder Kolo Toure. … Inter Milan forward Nsofor Victor Obinna netted the first goal of the game in the 38th minute, assisted by midfielder Esteban Cambiasso. The goal was scored from the left side of the field, as Obinna bent the ball past keeper Joe Hart to the right corner of the goal. … There was a 10-minute youth game during the halftime. The players came from the U-12 teams of the Baltimore Bay Colts, Baltimore Bay Stars and Baltimore Bay Comets.