Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City demonstrated their FIFA Club World Cup credentials with a 5-2 victory over Juventus on Thursday, while Vinicius Junior starred as Real Madrid beat Salzburg 3-0 to secure a spot in the last 16.
Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia beat Pachuca of Mexico 2-0 to pip Salzburg to the last berth in the knockout phase, as Al-Ain battled to a 2-1 win over Wydad Casablanca in the day’s other game.
City became the only side at the tournament to win all three of their group matches as they put Juventus to the sword in front of 54,320 at the Camping World Stadium in Orland, Florida.
Photo: AFP
City now face Al-Hilal, the only Asian representative in the next round after goals from Salem Al-Dawsari and Brazilian Marcos Leonardo against Pachuca.
“We played well and I’m happy with the victory,” said City winger Jeremy Doku, who opened the scoring.
Doku pounced for the early opener after new arrival Rayan Ait-Nouri set him up with a clever ball.
Photo: AP
However, City stopper Ederson passed the ball straight to Teun Koopmeiners who leveled for Juventus, in one of the few moments in which Guardiola’s team let their focus slip.
Pierre Kalulu bundled into his own net from Matheus Nunes’ cross to restore City’s lead.
The English Premier League side, hoping to make up for a poor season by their standards in which they finished without a major trophy, stepped up a level after the break with Erling Haaland’s introduction.
The Norwegian striker tapped home the third and then helped create the fourth for Phil Foden, before Savinho smashed home from distance for the fifth.
Dusan Vlahovic netted late on for Juve, but it did not take the shine off an impressive triumph for City, who were able to give holding midfielder Rodri a first start after his long injury layoff.
“Manchester City have a lot better [quality of] players than us, that’s the truth, that needs to be acknowledged,” said Juventus coach Igor Tudor, as his side finished second in Group G.
“The stars didn’t align for us to play better tonight,” he added.
Al-Ain got the better of Wydad in Washington in a meeting of two teams who were already eliminated, but were hoping to sign off with a victory.
South African striker Cassius Mailula blasted the Moroccans into an early lead, but Togo international Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba levelled from the spot just before the break for Al-Ain.
That was their first goal of the tournament after 5-0 and 6-0 thrashings by Juve and City respectively, and Paraguayan international Alejandro Romero curled home from the edge of the box to earn the team from the United Arab Emirates victory.
Vinicius scored one goal and made another with a touch of class as Madrid saw off Salzburg in Philadelphia to clinch top spot in Group H.
Real play Juventus in the last 16 in Miami on Tuesday.
Brazilian star Vinicius opened the scoring after a superb defense-splitting pass by Jude Bellingham on 40 minutes, to the delight of the vast majority of the 64,811 crowd on a rainy night at Lincoln Financial Field. Vinicius then set up Federico Valverde with a clever backheel to make it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Young striker Gonzalo Garcia ran through to wrap up the win late on with his second goal of the tournament, as Xabi Alonso’s team ended the first round of FIFA’s new tournament unbeaten.
“I am pleased with the boys, and now the interesting phase begins,” Alonso told broadcaster DAZN.
Real were once again without top scorer Kylian Mbappe, who has yet to play at the tournament as he recovers from illness.
“We thought Kylian would make it and it wasn’t to be. Now we have four days and I want to be optimistic but cautious at the same time,” Alonso said.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
Taiwan’s world No. 6 shuttler Chou Tien-chen yesterday defeated India’s H.S. Prannoy to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open in Changzhou. It was former world No. 2 Chou’s eighth win in 14 matches against Prannoy, who had earlier this week lamented the age divide between him and up-and-comers, although he is only two years younger than 35-year-old Chou. The Taiwanese, who is seeded sixth at the tournament, rebounded from a close 21-18 loss in game 1 on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. He bounced back to take the next games 21-15, 21-8 and set up a tough quarter-final
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day