On a day of high emotion for Manchester City supporters, this was no ordinary house-warming party.

Ronaldinho & Distin

There was a mix of excitement and anticipation as the club threw open the doors to their stunning new surroundings - the 20million City of Manchester Stadium.

But during an afternoon when there were grateful cheers for Ali Benarbia and Shaun Goater, a warm Manchester welcome finally for Ronaldinho - albeit from the blue half - the proceedings were also tinged with sadness for the sadly-departed Marc-Vivien Foe.

The City fans paid their respects to Foe - who died playing for Cameroon in a Confederations Cup match in June - with a well-observed minute's silence.

Blues boss Kevin Keegan had been hoping to sign Foe this summer after he spent last season on loan from Lyon.

That sombre note was in total contrast to the standing ovation afforded to striker Goater and the magnificent reception given to midfielder Benarbia shortly before that.

Goater was given special dispensation by his new club Reading to say a fond farewell ahead of this match.

Benarbia, hailed by Keegan as a player 'who has to be one of the best signings this club has ever made,'' was also given the privilege of captaining the team as part of a specially-arranged goodbye appearance.

The Algerian, who now moves on to a club in Qatar, recently made it clear he could not cope with the demands of another season in the Premiership but wanted the chance to play in the new stadium.

Benarbia was given that opportunity and he played the promised first 30 minutes before being replaced by Eyal Berkovic.

There was a handshake from opposing captain Phillip Cocu as he made his way off the pitch to the sound of another standing ovation, followed by a hug and pat on the back from a grateful Keegan.

There was even time for a light-hearted dig at bitter rivals United when the names were read out over the tannoy, with the loudest cheer was reserved for Ronaldinho.

The Brazilian, of course, turned his back on Sir Alex Ferguson's side and instead chose Barcelona and a Catalan club record ?8million move from Paris St Germain, prompting an ironic chorus of 'There's only one Ronaldinho.'

The dreadlocked star, though, was upstaged by a mixture of the old and the new for City for at this party, Barcelona's attempts at a gatecrashing ultimately floundered.

Nicolas Anelka made it seven goals in as many pre-season games in the 38th minute as he slipped home the opener between the legs of Turkey international goalkeeper Rustu Recber, who will stand between England and European Championship qualification in October.

Young Argentina international Javier Saviola cancelled out City's lead 13 minutes after the break as he clipped a fine left-foot shot beyond England goalkeeper David Seaman.

But Trevor Sinclair, another of Keegan's five summer buys at a cost of 6.5million from West Ham, ensured the party ended on a high as the new ground was christened with a victory.

Sun Jihai's 67th-minute cross was met with a perfect downward header from Sinclair which bounced off the inside of Rustu's left-hand post.

It sparked a grandstand finish and an intensity in the atmosphere as the fans grew accustomed to their new surroundings, with Paulo Wanchope hitting a post and Andres Iniesta seeing his shot cleared off the line by Richard Dunne.

Keegan will be hoping this is the sign of things to come, starting with Thursday's UEFA Cup tie with TNS as City welcome back European football for the first time in 25 years.

Keegan salutes new stadium

'It was a day of many emotions for everybody,' reflected Keegan after the final whistle.

'Obviously, the biggest emotion was for the memories of Marc-Vivien Foe and the minute's silence.

'It was very emotional for the people who knew him and even for those who didn't because of what they had heard about him and how he had been portrayed.

'For Ali, I don't think we would be in the Premiership if he hadn't have walked in to this club two years ago.

'So it was a lovely farewell for him. I thought the crowd gave him a great reception.

'Shaun Goater got a chance to say another goodbye - a final one this time - and I know he enjoyed it because he came and told me.

'We then played one of the best teams in the world and I thought it was a really good workout for us, as it was for them. So a lot has been achieved.

'We have started with a win and it's a good start, but you cannot take too much from friendlies.

'You've got to be careful, but then if you don't play well and you've got problems you tend to think there is something wrong, so you might as well have a good day.

'There certainly looked more than 36,000 out there today, but I think this stadium will be the making of this Football Club.

'We are the luckiest team in the world to have a place like this and we've got to make that work for us as we did today.'

When asked about Michael Reiziger's move to Manchester, Keegan said: 'That's gone now.

'Michael came over and we tried to take him on loan with a view to signing him.

'He is a wonderful player who can play in several positions and he just cruises through. But that's passed us by and we've got to look beyond it.'

Another Barca player linked with a move to Manchester has been Carlos Puyol, with United understood to be interested in acquiring the defender.

However, Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard today commented: 'There's been a lot of speculation but as yet there's nothing official.'

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