Manchester City hit Al-Ain for six on Sunday to secure a place in the last 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup after Real Madrid shrugged off an early red card to beat Mexican side Pachuca 3-1.
Juventus proved too strong for Wydad Casablanca while Red Bull Salzburg and Al-Hilal drew 0-0 as the second round of group games at the tournament concluded.
The match between City and Al-Ain in Atlanta, Georgia, was dubbed the “Abu derby,” with the English club’s owner and United Arab Emirates Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan facing off against his elder sibling, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the Emirati team and also the country.
Photo: Reuters
Ilkay Gundogan put City ahead early on before 19-year-old Claudio Echeverri netted his first goal for the club with a free-kick and Erland Haaland slotted in the third with a penalty in first-half stoppage time.
In the second half, Gundogan struck again before two substitutes joined in, with Oscar Bobb rolling in the fifth and Rayan Cherki grabbing his first City goal for 6-0.
The result, in a game watched by a crowd of more than 40,000, means City and Juventus are through to the knockout phase after each winning their first two matches in Group G.
They are to face each other in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday to decide who tops the section.
Juventus triumphed 4-1 against Moroccan giants Wydad in Philadelphia, as Kenan Yildiz played a starring role.
The Turkish international forward scored twice after forcing the early own goal which put Juve ahead in front of almost 32,000 at Lincoln Financial Field.
His shot found the net with the aid of a slight but crucial deflection off Abdelmounaim Boutouil, and Yildiz then smashed in the second on 16 minutes with a brilliant half-volley.
South African winger Thembinkosi Lorch pulled one back for Wydad, but the impressive Yildiz made it 3-1 midway through the second half, and Dusan Vlahovic converted a penalty in injury time to seal the win for Igor Tudor’s side.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Real Madrid overcame the early sending-off of Raul Asencio to beat Pachuca and get their first win under new coach Xabi Alonso.
Defender Asencio was dismissed after just seven minutes for pulling down Salomon Rondon with the Venezuelan clear on goal.
That left the Liga MX team sensing the chance for an upset in front of 70,248 fans at the home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
However, Real took the lead on 35 minutes when Jude Bellingham buried a left-foot shot into the bottom corner, and they scored again before the interval through Arda Guler.
Fede Valverde got their third in the second half, with a deflected Elias Montiel effort pulling one back for Pachuca.
Alonso also said that Real defender Antonio Rudiger had complained of a racist incident at the end of the game when the German was visibly angered following an exchange of words with Pachuca’s Gustavo Cabral.
“I think the FIFA protocol has been activated to investigate, but if it has happened, all measures should be taken and we support Antonio because it’s something unacceptable,” Alonso said.
Cabral, the 39-year-old Argentinian centre-back, denied the accusations, saying his words had been misinterpreted.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS