Orlando (United States) (AFP) – Manchester City turned on the style to seal top spot in Group G at the Club World Cup with an emphatic 5-2 win over Juventus on Thursday. The third straight victory for Pep Guardiola’s side increases the chances of City avoiding a meeting with Real Madrid in the last 16 — a fate that may now await Juventus. City and Juve will not know their opponent until the final pair of games in Group H conclude later on Friday.
A positive day for City saw 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri make his first start since rupturing his ACL in September, and Guardiola’s side, featuring several new faces, looked significantly improved on the team which struggled to finish 13 points behind Premier League champions Liverpool last season. City was on top from the outset, with a Bernardo Silva header forcing Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio to save with his feet in the fifth minute.
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Four minutes later, Guardiola’s new-look side had the lead when, after a characteristic, patient build-up, Rayan Ait-Nouri split the Juve defense with a superb pass which Jeremy Doku collected and dispatched into the far corner. Juve were gifted an equaliser when City’s Brazilian keeper Ederson’s pass out was intercepted by Teun Koopmeiners, who marched into the box and confidently fired home.
Juve returned the gift though in the 26th minute when French defender Pierre Kalulu, under no pressure, turned a low cross from Matheus Nunes into his own net. A short but intense downpour just before half-time cooled the stadium down, and Guardiola introduced his prolific Norwegian striker Erling Haaland at the break. It took just seven minutes for him to find the scoresheet; Tijjani Reijnders fed Matheus Nunes, whose low cross found an unmarked Haaland in the middle. While it wasn’t the cleanest of finishes from close range, the striker celebrated his 300th career goal.
Rodri left the field in the 66th minute to applause as Ilkay Gundogan took over his role in the centre of midfield, but City continued to overrun the Turin side. Haaland latched onto a long ball from Ederson and looked for fellow sub Phil Foden in the middle, but put his cross beyond the England man. Only for Savinho to recover it and set up Foden for a simple conversion. Savinho then made it 5-1 when, after a Haaland shot was saved by De Gregorio’s feet, the Brazilian met the loose ball with a thundering drive which flew in off the underside of the bar.
Juventus had created little but restored a little pride when Kenan Yildiz produced a lovely touch and clever pass to set Dusan Vlahovic free, and the Serbian beat Ederson from the edge of the box.
© 2024 AFP
