Manchester City exhibited a dominant performance to secure a comfortable 3-0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds in the King Abdullah Sports City stadium on Tuesday, advancing to the Club World Cup final. Manchester City will play Fluminense in the summit clash on December 22, Friday. European Champions City will be overwhelming favorites in the final against Copa Libertadores champions Fluminense. The Brazilian side defeated Egypt’s Al-Ahly 2-0 on Monday to reach the final. Meanwhile, Red Diamonds will face Al-Ahly in the third-placed playoff on Friday.
The Premier League champions City were frustrated by a well-organized Japanese side in the first half but seized the lead in stoppage time thanks to an own goal by Marius Hoibraten. Mateo Kovacic scored his first goal for City since signing from Chelsea in the 52nd minute. A few minutes later, Bernardo Silva’s deflected shot meant City could play the rest of the game in cruise control.
City have had several domestic setbacks recently and have fallen behind in their pursuit of a fourth consecutive Premier League title. Even with Erling Haaland still out and Guardiola reshuffling his squad following Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace, they were far too strong for the J1 League club.
The Diamonds’ gameplan was clear as they packed their defense and midfield to form a red wall in front of their goal, and it worked brilliantly as City struggled to find openings. Despite scarcely making it out of their own half, they were undone when Matheus Nunes finally got some space and his low cross was intercepted by Hoibraten, who deflected the ball into his own goal. Diamonds showed a little more adventure in the second half of the game, but it made it simple for City.
Kovacic, a Club World Cup champion twice with Real Madrid and once with Chelsea, was sent clean and sprinted away before slamming a high shot past Shusaku Nishikawa. City sealed the match when Nishikawa produced a fine save, but the ball fell to Bernardo Silva, whose effort got a nick off Hoibraten and went just inside the post.
Pep Guardiola’s City, who had only won three of their previous eight games in all competitions, are attempting to become the fourth English team to win the Club World Cup title, behind Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea. Guardiola is on track to win his fifth title of the season, despite his displeasure with FIFA over the status of the pitch. Guardiola has twice won the Club World Cup with his great Barcelona team.
