Manchester City secured the first victory of the Enzo Maresca era on Wednesday, beating a K-League All-Stars team 3-1 in Seoul — and the new head coach believes his players are already adapting to life after Pep Guardiola.

Following 10 glittering years under Guardiola, City opened a new chapter this summer, and after a penalty-shootout defeat to Inter last Saturday, first-half strikes from Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Divin Mubama delivered a maiden win for Maresca at a sweltering Seoul World Cup stadium, where temperatures reached around 36 degrees Celsius.

Reijnders steals the show amid transfer talk

The pick of City's goals came from Reijnders, who finished first time after being picked out by a wonderful back-heel from Antoine Semenyo — an eye-catching contribution amid reports the midfielder could leave for Nottingham Forest. The K-League XI had briefly drawn level at 1-1 through Kim Dae-won's near-post finish, but City never looked in serious danger.

Despite being without the members of his squad that went deep at the World Cup, Maresca named a strong line-up. Phil Foden, Ait-Nouri and Semenyo played behind young striker Mubama, while Rico Lewis, Ruben Dias, Abdukodir Khusanov and Josko Gvardiol formed the back four in front of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, with Mateo Kovacic partnering Reijnders in midfield.

The numbers underlined City's dominance. They fired off 22 shots in total, hitting the target on 13 occasions while racking up 2.7 expected goals (xG), compared to the K-League XI's six shots, one on target and 0.4 xG.

Maresca impressed by effort in brutal heat

Speaking to City's website after earning his first win since succeeding Guardiola, Maresca made clear that the performance mattered as much as the result.

"For us, the result is always important, even if it is a friendly game. But the most important thing is to see the effort of the players, especially in this weather. Also, compared to the last game, in some respects, we did things better. The good thing is the players tried to adapt. They made an effort for 95 minutes."

"Since day one, the players are putting in the effort, and I can see that they trust the job we are doing and, for me, this is the main thing," he added.

'No doubt we will be even better' when stars return

City are still awaiting the return of a host of big names, with Erling Haaland, Rodri, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku, Nico O'Reilly and Elliot Anderson among those yet to rejoin the squad following the World Cup — and Maresca knows there is far more to come from his team.

"Eight or nine players are still not here with us. But the important thing is when they are here, they make the effort to do the things we have been trying to do since day one. Also, we need them to trust in what we want. That is important, and then when the rest of the players arrive, there is no doubt we will be even better."

City wrap up their pre-season campaign against Atletico Madrid on Sunday, again at the Seoul World Cup stadium, before turning their attention to the Community Shield against Arsenal on August 16.