Club World Cup: Manchester City cruise past Urawa Red Diamonds to set up Final clash with Fluminense
Manchester City defeated Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in the King Abdullah Sports City stadium on Tuesday, advancing to the Club World Cup final against Fluminense of Brazil.
City were frustrated by a well-organized Japanese side in the first half, but took the lead in stoppage time thanks to an own goal by Marius Hoibraten.
Mateo Kovacic scored his first goal for City since joining from Chelsea in the 52nd minute, and Bernardo Silva's deflected shot a few minutes later meant City could play the rest of the game in cruise control.
Pep Guardiola's City, who had only won three of their previous eight games in all competitions, are attempting to become the fourth English club to win the Premier League title, following Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea.
They will be heavy favorites in Friday's final against Copa Libertadores champions Fluminense, who defeated Egypt's Al-Ahly 2-0 on Monday.
City have had some 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 side.
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 well as City struggled to find openings.
Despite barely getting out of their own half, they nearly made it to halftime level, but were undone when Matheus Nunes found some space and his low cross was intercepted by Hoibraten, who steered the ball into his own goal.
Diamonds showed a little more adventure in the second half of the game, but it made it easy for City.
Kovacic, a competition winner twice with Real Madrid and once with Chelsea, was sent clear and surged away before smashing a high shot past Shusaku Nishikawa.
After Nishikawa had made a fine save, the ball fell to Bernardo Silva, whose shot took a nick off Hoibraten and went just inside the post.
All that remained for City was to secure its first clean sheet since November 7.
On Friday, the Urawa Red Diamonds will face Al-Ahly in the third-place playoff.
SportsLigue