Man City Thrashes Al Ain 6-0, Sets Up Juventus Showdown

Ilkay Gundogan scored twice as Manchester City thrashed Al Ain 6-0 to secure their place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup.

The Premier League side were far too strong for their Abu Dhabi-based opponents under a closed roof at Atlanta’s spectacular Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The result seemed certain from the moment Gundogan, who has been linked with a move to Galatasaray, opened the scoring – perhaps fortuitously – by lobbing the keeper after eight minutes.

Teenager Claudio Echeverri marked his first City start by adding the second from a free-kick and Erling Haaland made it 3-0 at half-time from the penalty spot.

Gundogan finished off a neat move after 73 minutes before substitutes Oscar Bobb and Rayan Cherki struck late on to ensure City and Juventus will progress from Group G.

This result lifted City level on points and goal difference with Juventus but it is the Italians who will have the slight edge – courtesy of goals scored – heading into Thursday’s meeting between the two teams in Orlando.

City will now need to beat the Serie A outfit to ensure they avoid a clash with the winners of Real Madrid’s group in the first knockout round.

“It felt like we needed the seventh at the end,” said Gundogan. “We set that as our target at half-time but unfortunately we didn’t start the second half good enough. We were a bit slow.

“It felt like it cost us at the end.”

City, who made 11 changes from their opening win over Wydad Casablanca, were quick to take charge, although it was not obvious if Gundogan intended his chip as an attempt on goal.

The Germany midfielder beat a challenge and delicately lofted the ball in the direction of Haaland at the back post, but no extra touch was required as the ball dropped into the net.

Despite their clear superiority, City did still have some awkward moments at the back and one such saw Nassim Chadli break through on goal but Stefan Ortega touched the former Morocco youth international’s shot behind.

There was a lengthy delay as Echeverri, making his first City start, required treatment following a collision.

The Argentinean’s problem was clearly not too serious as moments later he stepped up to curl in City’s second after Matheus Nunes was hauled down after 27 minutes.

Haaland could have added another within seconds after robbing Park Yong-woo and rounding Khalid Eisa but he shot across goal from a tight angle.

As the first Mexican waves of the evening gathered momentum, Josko Gvardiol went even closer when he headed against the post.

Haaland dragged another effort wide after being played in by Bernardo Silva but he finally got his goal after City were awarded a penalty in first-half stoppage time.

The referee initially ignored City’s claims after Manuel Akanji was wrestled to the ground by Ramy Rabia but the decision was changed after a VAR review.

Haaland, who attracted criticism after handing a penalty to Omar Marmoush – who subsequently missed – in the FA Cup final, calmly sent the keeper the wrong way.

Nunes went close to adding to the score after a clever flick and turn but his volley flew narrowly side.

Phil Foden, who came on at half-time, picked out Haaland with a low cross from the left but Eisa denied him with a double save.

The fourth goal came when Gundogan took a pass from Silva and brilliantly dinked over Eisa.

City rammed home their advantage in the closing minutes as Bobb fired a shot inside the post and new signing Cherki struck with a low effort from the edge of the area.

Uk.sports.yahoo.com