And Andrée Jeglertz’s side narrowly lost 2-1 to the Gunners at Sobha Realty Training Centre in north London.
City started brightly and Aoba Fujino produced a sublime piece of skill to weave her way into the box before testing Anneke Borbe with a stinging drive from an acute angle.
But Arsenal took the lead against the run of play moments later through a Stena Blackstenius header at the near post from a corner.
Undeterred, the Blues were in the ascendency before the interval and equalised when Lauren Hemp collected a phenomenal cross-field pass from Mary Fowler to then cut onto her right foot and curl into the right side-netting.
The intensity continued to rise after the interval, and Caitlin Foord hit the crossbar after receiving the ball inside the box and shooting first time before Blackstenius glanced a header wide of the target.
With 25 minutes remaining Jeglertz introduced Iman Beney and Beth Mead for their first minutes of preseason as well as a number of our Next Gen squad who had already impressed this summer.
Ayaka Yamashita – who replaced Eartha Cumings – was then quickly called into action when she thwarted Selina Cerci’s effort from the edge of the area.
Both teams pressed on in a search for a winner, but it was Arsenal who found the game’s third goal when Lisa Baum collected the ball in the box and dispatched expertly.
