Man City demolish Al Ain to reach Club World Cup last 16
Manchester City booked their place in the Club World Cup last 16 with an emphatic 6-0 rout of Al Ain in Atlanta on Sunday.
In a match dubbed the "Abu derby", with City owner and United Arab Emirates vice-president Sheikh Mansour's side facing off against that of his elder sibling, Sheikh Mohamed, president of Al Ain and also the country, the Premier League side showed no brotherly love.
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Ilkay Gundogan put City ahead before starlet Claudio Echeverri netted his first goal for the club with a free-kick and Erland Haaland slotted in the third with a penalty.
In the second half Gundogan struck again, Oscar Bobb rolled in the fifth and Rayan Cherki grabbed his first City goal as they pulled level with Juventus on six points at the top of Group G. The result also confirmed Juve's place in the next round.
City coach Pep Guardiola said on the eve of the game his squad needed trimming and that was reflected in his decision to rotate his entire starting II from the opening win over Wydad Casablanca.
In came superstar striker Haaland, new arrival Rayan Ait-Nouri, and exciting prospect Echeverri, among others.
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Serbian coach Vladimir Ivic's Al Ain were crushed 5-0 by Juventus in their opening fixture and the 10-time Premier League champions offered another unforgiving challenge.
After a disjointed opening, City took the lead in the ninth minute in fortuitous fashion, with Gundogan's chip towards Haaland at the back post floating into the net of its own accord.
Al Ain had a good chance to pull level when the dawdling Nico Gonzalez had his pocket picked and the UAE side sprang forward, but Nassim Chadli's effort was superbly tipped wide by Stefan Ortega.
Debutant Ait-Nouri brought City fans out of their seats with one daring dart into the box before he slipped at the crucial moment.
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City's 19-year-old Argentine attacker Echeverri, on his first start for the club, doubled their lead after 27 minutes with a perfect free-kick that swerved around the outside of the wall and left goalkeeper Khalid Eisa rooted to the spot.
With the Mercedes-Benz Stadium mostly full apart from the top ring of seats, fans began sending a Mexican wave around the ground.
It came to a standstill when Bernardo Silva's corner was headed against the post by Josko Gvardiol, before starting back up.
Haaland rolled a shot narrowly wide when he might have scored the third after a one-two with Silva sent him galloping through.
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The Norwegian hitman eventually got his goal in first-half stoppage time after Manuel Akanji was hauled to the ground by Ramy Rabia and City were awarded a penalty following a VAR review.
Haaland sent Eisa the wrong way with a low spot-kick for his first goal of the tournament.
- Relentless -
Guardiola brought on Phil Foden, who impressed in the first match, for Echeverri at half-time.
Haaland should have scored again after the hour mark but Eisa denied him with a good double save.
Instead it was Gundogan who got his second, with a well-taken dinked finish.
The midfielder has recently been linked with a move to Galatasaray, but Guardiola said Saturday he is still counting on the 34-year-old in the United States.
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Substitute Oscar Bobb showed fleet footwork before rolling in the fifth at the near post before Cherki sealed the win.
Signed from Lyon ahead of the tournament, the French attacking midfielder had a quiet debut against Wydad but powered home from the edge of the box late on in his second appearance.
City face Juventus in Orlando on Thursday in a shoot-out to decide who will finish top of the group and potentially avoid a last-16 clash against Spanish giants Real Madrid.
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