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Manchester City eased to victory in their Club World Cup debut against Urawa Red Diamonds, as Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and an own-goal from Marius Hoibraten saw them advance to the final.
It wasn’t a blowout victory by any means, as the regimented Asian champions frustrated Man City for most of the first half, defending the edge of their penalty area with discipline and forcing their illustrious opponents to resort to long-range efforts.
They deserved to reach the break level but fell behind in stoppage time when Hoibraten turned Matheus Nunes’ low cross into his own net, and the Japanese side were out of ideas trying to fight back in the second-half.
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Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne watched on from the stands but it was still a strong squad named by Pep Guardiola with just four changes: Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Rico Lewis and Julian Alvarez all dropped to the bench after Saturday’s draw with Crystal Palace.
The Citizens aren’t in Premier League action until after Christmas and will face Fluminense in Friday’s Club World Cup final while Urawa’s season is over, the J1 League season is complete and they didn’t make it out of the AFC Champions League group stage.
Fluminense are a better team than the Red Devils but may not present Guardiola with as big a challenge if they attempt to play more positively from kick-off.
Urawa Reds were tough to break down but offered precious little in attack having scored just 42 league goals last season. Up front, Jose Kante had several opportunities as Man City’s accuracy was lacking on occasion in their own third, but Ederson had clearly learned from the trouble caused by Jean-Phillipe Mateta and the Eagles, and quickly closed down each chance.
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Source: TNT
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