City cruise into Club World Cup knockouts with Al Ain win

The Blues never looked back after taking an early lead thanks to a sensational – albeit perhaps unintentional - Ilkay Gundogan chip, with Claudio Echeverri doubling our advantage as the half hour mark approached from a free-kick.

An Erling Haaland penalty on the stroke of half-time added further daylight between the sides before Gundogan grabbed his second with 15 to play.

Substitutes Oscar Bobb and Rayan Cherki - opening his City account - then rounded off the scoring late on to ensure the race for top spot in Group G goes down to the wire, as we prepare to face Juventus in Orlando on Thursday.

What happened

City, sporting our special edition KidSuper x PUMA FIFA Club World Cup kit, knew a win would guarantee our place in the knockout stages alongside Juventus, who we face in our final Group G fixture.

And the Blues set the tone for a dominant display when Gundogan put us ahead inside eight minutes at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The ball fell to the German on the edge of the area from a corner and, after feinting away from a challenge onto his left foot, he sent a chip over Khalid Eissa and into the far corner.

Intentional or not, it was an outstanding finish from the midfielder, but Al Ain responded to that opener with a chance of their own as Stefan Ortega Moreno made an excellent save to deny Nassim Chadli on the counter.

It was a rare moment of danger though, with City dominating possession and patiently waiting for another opening as the half wore on.

Rayan Ait-Nouri looked like he might mark his Blues debut with an audacious solo effort after jinking his way into the area only to lose his footing at the crucial moment, but we wouldn’t have to wait long to double our lead.

It came from Echeverri, who marked his first start for the Club by finding the net with a pinpoint free-kick that kissed the underside of the bar and left Eissa rooted to the spot.

City could’ve even added a third from the next passage of play when Haaland stole possession on the edge of the Al Ain box, but his pass across goal was just out of reach for Bernardo Silva.

Chances continued to fall City’s way though as Josko Gvardiol headed onto the post from a corner before Haaland fired wide after playing a neat one-two with Bernardo.

But number three would follow deep into first half stoppage time when Manuel Akanji was brought down in the area under the close attentions of Rami Rabia.

Haaland duly stepped up to do the honours and put the game to bed, sending Eissa the wrong way from the penalty spot.

With goal difference potentially deciding who would finish top of Group G, City continued to push for a fourth after the break.

We almost found it on the hour when Matheus Nunes volleyed wide after juggling the ball on his head to create the opening, before Haaland forced a fine double save from Eissa.

At the other end, Chadli missed a golden opportunity to pull one back for Al Ain when firing over from a promising position, before Haaland once again tested Eissa with a close-range header.

The pressure would eventually tell though, with Gundogan adding his second and City’s fourth with around 15 to play.

Bernardo was the architect, cutting inside onto his left and playing a teasing ball in between the two Al Ain centre-backs, which the German latched on to before confidently finding the net.

Not content to settle with four, Pep Guardiola’s men continued to press forward in search of further goals, with substitute Rayan Cherki testing Eissa soon after entering the fray.

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But it was Cherki’s fellow substitute who would strike gold, with Bobb cutting inside onto his left foot before sneaking an effort in at the near post to round off the scoring.

Our new recruit had played a key role in the build-up to that goal, and would grab one of his own as stoppage time approached to round off the scoring.

After dummying over the ball, the Frenchman picked up play from Haaland before rifling a low effort into the bottom corner.

Had Eissa not made a smart stop with his feet, Phil Foden could even have added a seventh deep into stoppage time, but City were forced to settle for six.

Player of the Match: Ilkay Gundogan

A commanding display in the engine room from the German.

Gundogan opened the scoring with an audacious chip to set the tone for our dominant display, but his performance was about much more than his brace.

Clever movement off the ball and plenty of quality on it, the midfielder drove City on to a convincing victory.

What it means

The win means City are guaranteed to qualify from Group G, and maintain our 100% record in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup in the process.

We sit second, only behind Juventus on goals scored ahead of our clash with the Turin outfit in Orlando later this week.

How we lined up

Stefan Ortega Moreno started between the sticks, shielded by a back four of Abdukodir Khusanov, Manuel Akanji, Josko Gvardiol and Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Nico, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva made up the midfield three with Matheus Nunes and Claudio Echeverri supporting Erling Haaland, who started as centre-forward.

CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Khusanov (Bobb 61’), Akanji, Gvardiol (Dias 74’), Ait-Nouri, Nico (Khusanov 61’), Gundogan, Bernardo (C) (Cherki 74’), Nunes, Echeverri (Foden 46’), Haaland

SUBS: Ederson, Bettinelli, Reijnders, Stones, Ake, Marmoush, Doku, Reis, Savinho, O’Reilly

AL AIN XI: Eisa, Jasic, Niang, Rabia, Zabala (Menezes 62’), Park, Traore, Nader (Palacios 46’), M. Abbas (Kaku 62’), Chadli (Sanabria 74’), S. Rahimi (Laba 46’)

SUBS: Rui Patricio, Alhashimi, Ratnik, Cardoso, Autonne, Ben Khaleq, Jorgens, Udoh, H. Abbas, Awad, H. Rahimi

Up next

City’s final Group G clash sees us face Juventus on Thursday 26 June in Orlando, Florida.

Kick-off is set for 20:00 (UK) as the Blues battle the Italian giants for top spot.

Next Fixture

All fixtures

Thu 26 Jun

FIFA Club World Cup 2025

Juventus

20:00

BST

Man City