December 19, (THEWILL) – Manchester City eased into the final of the Club World Cup on Tuesday, with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds in Saudi Arabia. Without star striker Erling Haaland due to injury, the English champions relied on an own goal to break the deadlock before second-half strikes from Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva sealed a routine win.
The victory sets up a final showdown with Brazilian outfit Fluminense on Friday, as City aim to cap off an already successful 2023 calendar year with another trophy.
It was a quiet first half for City despite bossing possession, with keeper Shusaku Nishikawa pulling off some fine saves to keep the score level. Right on the stroke of halftime, Mateo Nunes’ low drive was turned into his own net by Urawa’s Marius Hoibraten to hand City the lead.
With the deadlock broken, City took control in the second period. Kovacic doubled the advantage in the 52nd minute with a delicate chip over Nishikawa before Silva added a third courtesy of a deflection. Guardiola began making changes with the game won, but Urawa still created some late half-chances that were kept at bay as City professionally closed out the victory.
They now turn their focus to the final against Fluminense as they bid to round out a mightily impressive five trophies over the last 12 months.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
