ILKAY Gundogan scored twice as Manchester City thrashed United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain 6-0 in the early hours of today to advance into the round of 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States of America.
Pep Guardiola’s men backed up their opening game win over Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca with a ruthless performance but will have to beat Juventus to top Group G and avoid a meeting with the winners of Real Madrid’s group.
City took the lead after only eight minutes courtesy of Gundogan’s fortuitous strike, sending an attempted chipped cross sailing over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net, while the German delightfully dinked home in the second half.
In between, Claudio Echeverri curled in a sublime free-kick from the edge of the box on his first start and Josko Gvardiol sent a header against ... as City threatened to run riot in the opening 30 minutes.
City went 3-0 up before half-time courtesy of Erling Haaland’s penalty after Ramy Rabia bundled over Manuel Akanji in the box — the referee awarding the spot-kick after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Oscar Bobb came off the bench to cut inside and fire in at the near post and fellow substitute Rayan Cherki scored his first goal for the club with a low, thumping drive late on.
Al-Ain qualified for the competition after winning the 2024 Asian Champions League under ex-Argentina striker Hernan Crespo. They are now led by former Watford boss Vladimir Ivic, but they were well beaten by their superior opponents.
Earlier, Juventus overcame a difficult challenge as they came from behind to beat African representatives Wydad 4-1, qualifying them for the knockout stages of the Club World Cup.
A phenomenal strike from Juve starlet Kenan Yildiz was the pick of the bunch as the Turkish winger scored a brace on a chaotic Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.
The result saw Juventus move top of their group on six points, before Manchester City’s big win against Al Ain later.
Real Madrid also recorded a victory on Sunday night, beating Mexico’s Pachuca 3-1 despite a seventh minute red card for young centre-back Raul Asencio.
Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler and Federico Valverde struck for the Spanish giants as they rose to the top of Group H with four points, leaving Pachuca stuck in the bottom with no points from two games.
RESULTS
Manchester City 6-0 Al-Ain
Juventus 4-1 Wydad Casablanca
Real Madrid 3-1 Pachuca
FC Salzburg 0-0 Al Hilal
River Plate 0-0 Monterrey