Manchester City Thursday secured top spot in Group G of the FIFA Club World Cup by beating Italian side, Juventus 5-2, incidentally their first win against the Old Lady since 1976.
Much has been made of Pep Guardiola’s squad rotation at this tournament, and although he once again made wholesale changes, his side showed no signs of being unfamiliar with each other. Not even 10 minutes were on the clock when their early pressure told, as new signing Rayan Aït-Nouri threaded an inch-perfect pass through for Jérémy Doku, who stepped inside and found the far corner. Their joy was short lived though, and City only had themselves to blame, as Ederson’s loose pass was pounced upon by Teun Koopmeiners, who strode forward and drilled an effort beneath the Brazilian.
If Juve’s equaliser was a gift, then the goal that put City back ahead was nothing short of comical. There appeared to be no danger when Matheus Nunes drilled the ball across the face of goal, but with no City players around him, Pierre Kalulu incredibly turned the ball into the back of his own net. As the heavens opened in Orlando before HT, City were raining efforts on the Juve goal too, and both Omar Marmoush and Aït-Nouri forced Michele Di Gregorio into fine saves before the break.
Guardiola
