ORLANDO (United States) —Manchester City turned on the style to seal top spot in Group G at the FIFA Club World Cup with an emphatic 5-2 win over Juventus.
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.
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, look significantly improved on the team which struggled to finish 13 points behind Premier League champions Liverpool last season.
City were 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.
Four minutes later, Guardiola’s new-look side had the lead when after a characteristic, patient build-up, Rayan Ait-Nouri split the Juve defence with a superb pass which Jeremy Doku collected and dispatched into the far corner.
Juve was 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, AFP reported.
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 halftime cooled the stadium down and Guardiola introduced his prolific Norwegian striker Erling Haaland at the break and 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 and 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 over-run the Turin side.
Haaland latched on to 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.
