Manchester City defeated Juventus 5-2 on Thursday to conclude their Club World Cup group stage campaign in style.
Pep Guardiola’s side faced their stiffest competition in the Club World Cup yet when they took on Serie A greats Juventus but completely dominated proceedings in a dull game that rarely ventured past walking pace in the harsh Floridian elements.
Jeremy Doku scored a fine opener early on, though a mistake from Ederson allowed for Teun Koopmeiners to score an instant leveller.
Manchester City continued to control possession and retook the lead when Matheus Nunes’ cross was diverted into his own net by Pierre Kalulu.
Erling Haaland got in on the act after the break to kill the game off but City weren’t done there as Phil Foden added a fourth moments after coming on and Savinho scored the pick of the bunch with a roaring hit. Dusan Vlahovic pulled one back for the Italians late on.
City have now finished top of Group G after becoming the only team so far to win all their group matches and will now avoid Real Madrid.
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Here’s how the players rated.
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Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images
Ederson – 5
Dodgy distribution as his poor pass allowed Juventus to equalise instantly. Had little else to do but not the best way for Ederson to go about improving on last season. Did redeem himself by denying Vlahovic as he went through on goal and creating the fourth with a big boot forward.
Matheus Nunes – 8
Though he was caught in possession on a couple of occasions and easily beaten for Juve’s second, Nunes showed his worth as a full-back by setting up two goals with excellently placed passes across the face of goal after bursting behind enemy lines.
Manuel Akanji – 6
An easy afternoon aside from being caught cold by Vlahovic once, but the score was already 5-1 by then.
Ruben Dias – 7
Pushed high up the field and moved the ball around well. Had little to do at the back.
Rayan Ait-Nouri – 8
A really promising performance for the season to come from Rayan Ait-Nouri. He linked up well with Doku throughout, with the pair already developing a good understanding of when one attacks down the flank and when the other drifts infield. This budding partnership could be a real weapon for Guardiola.
His reverse ball for Doku’s goal was the best example, with a beautiful pass that cut Juventus wide open.
Rodri – 6
First start in nine months and looked understandably rusty. Solid and good with his short passing, but his radar was out of sync when going for anything a bit more ambitious. Put in 65 minutes as he continues to get back to his best.
Savinho – 7
Savinho showed moments of skill and pace in the first half but his end product was lacking, with crosses often evading blue shirts. Yet, he still managed to finish the game with an assist for Foden and a thunderous goal to his name.
Bernardo Silva – 7
The relentless Bernardo Silva can’t even allow his effort levels to drop in the Club World Cup. The Portuguese was all over the field and dictated the tempo of the match. Constantly played Savinho and Nunes into good positions on the right.
Tijjani Reijnders – 8
Another exciting display from Tijjani Reijnders, who is already looking like the second coming of Ilkay Gundogan. The Dutchman was everywhere but particularly impressed with his intricate passing and movement in the final third.
It was his well-weighted pass that sent Nunes through to set up the third goal.
Jeremy Doku – 9
Doku has been on fire in the Club World Cup and City will be desperate to see this from him when the new season gets underway.
He was up for it from the off with some lovely skill in the opening minutes and got the ball rolling with a brilliant goal after he cut inside and found the bottom corner.
A constant lively threat and a joy to watch, as he was the one injection of pace and verve in a Sunday stroll of a game
Omar Marmoush – 7
Led the line really well in place of Haaland by occupying defences, dragging centre-backs out of position and making good runs for his midfielders to find. A threat which bodes well for next season, should Haaland pick up an injury again. Taken off at half-time for a well-earned rest.
Substitutes
Erling Haaland – 8
On at the break and had a chance within seconds but couldn’t get his toe to it. He didn’t have to wait long, though, as he bagged the 300th goal of his career six minutes later when he clumsily bundled the ball home.
His touch was far more impressive for the fourth goal when he plucked the ball out of the sky and played a lovely pass to Foden. There was more great build-up play from him, too.
Ilkay Gundogan – 6
Good on the ball.
Phil Foden – 7
Grabbed his second goal of the tournament with a simple tap-in moments after coming on.
Rayan Cherki – 6
Wasted a great chance in added time.
Nico O’Reilly – 6
Couldn’t get close to Vlahovic for the second.