Final: Manchester City 6-0 Al Ain
Jamie Jackson was in Atlanta tonight. You can read his full match report here:
Updated
Goal! Manchester City 6-0 Al Ain (Cherki, 89)
Oh dear. Congratulations to Rayan Cherki on his first goal for Manchester City, but it came as a result of a really silly giveaway by Al Ain. A wild clearance from goalkeeper Khalid Eisa was intercepted easily. It came to Cherki, then Haaland, who set up Cherki at the top of the box and he finished clinically.
Goal! Manchester City 5-0 Al Ain (Bobb, 84)
Oscar Bobb scores after coming on as a sub, and in clever fashion too. After Rayan Cherki drew the left side of the Al Ain defense forward, Bobb snuck in behind and Rodri found him with a through ball. The defender wrong-footed the goalkeeper and finished at the near post.
80 min: I think in this a case the most basic stats really do tell the story. Man City has had 18 shots, eight of which have been on target. Al Ain has two shots, one of which was on target.
City has attempted 17 crosses to 2 for Al Ain.
City has completed 638 passes to Al Ain’s 196.
Subs!
Both teams have made some changes after the latest goal.
For Man City:
Rayan Cherki comes on for Bernardo Silva
Ruben Días comes on for Joško Gvardiol
For Al Ain:
Mateo Sanabria comes on for Nassim Chadli
Goal! Manchester City 4-0 Al Ain (Gündogan, 73)
Ilkay Gündogan gets his second goal of the game in composed fashion! Bernardo Silva was the genesis, cutting through the heart of the Al Ain backline before arriving at the top of the box, where he slotted the ball perfectly through to Gündogan. The veteran midfielder looked like his old self as he took a touch past defenders, and put the ball over the line with a composed finish.
72 min: Haaland has another effort on goal, a header off a headed cross with understandably little power behind it.
69 min: At long last, a chance for Al Ain. This time it’s Nassim Chadli, who cuts through the Man City defense and finds a window to have a go at goal. Unfortunately, he puts way too much behind hsi shot and it sails 10 yards over the crossbar.
64 min: Chance! Erling Haaland is through on goal but has two efforts in a row saved by Khalid Eisa! A nice couple of stops from the Al Ain goalkeeper.
61 min: Subs!
For Man City:
Rodri is on for Nico González
Oscar Bobb is on for Abdukodie Khusanov
For Al Ain:
Erik is on for Facundo Zabala
Kaku is on for Mohammed Abbas
61 min: Chance! Matheus Nunes tries what would have been a fairly ridiculous goal, controlling the ball on his head while shielding a defender in the box, then turning and hitting a shot on the volley. It sailed wide, but drew some oohs and aahs from the crowd, rightfully so.
58 min: Khusanov gets a yellow for a rash challenge at midfield as Al Ain were playing out of pressure semi-successfully. That counts as a notable event in this one, which has calmed down a lot – on the field and in the stands.
53 min: Hilariously, the Fifa website lists Al Ain as playing in a 4-6-0. No forward listed among their on-field personnel.
In reality it’s Kodjo Laba who appears to be occupying the striker position, so it’s really just a glitch in the side. But still: A rather jarring view for the live bloggers of the world keeping track of this one.
Reader Peter gets in touch from Costa Rica:
Not a City supporter but I enjoy watching them. Interesting to see the new and newish players.
Don’t think much of the competition, but most of the non-British public have always had a much higher regard for the World Club Championship (I can say that as I’ve lived in Latin America for 40 years).
That certainly seems to be the case based on the fan turnout & enthusiasm from the first half of group games. That’s especially true for the South American teams, whose fanbases have brought a lot of the noise, color and atmosphere you want to see from a World Cup.
Second half is underway!
One sub for Man City: Phil Foden comes on for Claudio Etheverri.
For Al Ain, there are two changes: Matías Palacios comes on for Yahia Nader, while Kodjo Laba comes on in place of Soufiane Rahimi.
The teams are sauntering back on to the field, so the second half is likely imminent.
Half-time
It’s Manchester City 3-0 Al Ain. A fair scoreline for what has been a pretty straightforward first half.
Man City/Al Ain fans! Neutrals! A question for you: What do you want to see in the second 45?
Goal! Manchester City 3-0 Al Ain (Haaland, 45+3)
No mistake from Haaland this time, and he is off the mark at the Club World Cup. The Norwegian checks where the goalkeeper is going and hits it the opposite way, to his left.
The half-time whistle blows not long after. Goals from a corner, a free-kick, and a penalty kick separate the sides.
Penalty given!
The referee has taken a look at the monitor and determined that, yes, Rabia’s contact with Akanji was a foul, and thus a PK. Aït-Nouri’s yellow is also rescinded as a result.
Erling Haaland to take it…
45+2 min: A bit of an uproar on a corner at the end of the half as Manuel Akanji is taken down by Ramy Rabia, and Rayan Aït-Nouri earns a yellow for stopping Al Ain on the break.
…It’s now going to VAR.
41 min: Great chance for Haaland! The big Norwegian plays a nice 1-2 at the top of the box and is in on goal, but his finish attempt to the far post rolls just wide. It really should be 3-0.
40 min: It’s been a sleepy handful of minutes. Man City are comfortable in possession, and Al Ain aren’t able to build anything on the rare occasions they’re able to get control.
32 min: Post! Joško Gvardiol meets a Bernardo Silva corner with a header at the penalty spot, which bounces within the 6-yard box and hits the far post before being cleared.
28 min: Right off the ensuing restart, another chance for Man City! This time it’s Erling Haaland, who draws out the goalkeeper and tries a tough finish from an acute angle after rounding him, but the ball goes barely wide of the far post.
If things keep going like this, it could get ugly for Al Ain.
Goal! Manchester City 2-0 Al Ain (Etcheverri, 27)
Well, that was fantastic. Claudio Etcheverri puts in the perfect dipping effort up and over the wall to bean the Al Ain goalkeeper to the near post, and Man City is up 2-0. He made that look easy. I think it probably was not.
26 min: Foul by Al Ain and a freekick for Man City on the edge of the area. Great position. Let’s see who steps up to take it.
Reader Kurt gets in touch:
What is that song that is played after walkouts are finshed?
I believe the one you’re referring to is The Business, by Tiësto. This was also played after team intros at the Qatar World Cup in 2022, and I have to admit … it’s a banger.
18 min: A relief for City fans: Etcheverri will stay on, and seems to be moving around just fine now.
16 min: A bit of a worry as Claudio Etcheverri is down on the field and being attended to by Man City physios. Phil Foden and other subs have started warming up on the sideline
15 min: Chance! Al Ain have a great opportunity to even things up on the break but Chadli’s effort on goal is tipped wide of the far post by Ortega.
Goal! Man City 1-0 Al Ain (Gündogan, 9)
Well that was either brilliant or a complete accident. The ball came to Gündogan after a failed clearance after a corner. In space in the box, the German lofted a ball to the far post that seemed intended for Erling Haaland, but instead the Al Ain goalkeeper completely misread it and it nestled into the back of the net.
A weird goal, but a goal nonetheless. 1-0 City.
6 min: The match is going more or less as you might expect so far – Al Ain are bunkered in and Man City are dominating possession. Al Ain had one half-chance on the break but they were called for offside.
We are underway!
1 min: We have kicked off in Atlanta, with Man City in their white away kits and Al Ain in a color that suspiciously resembles City blue.
Reader Ken gets in touch…
I’m wondering how many disgruntled Brits, who say the Club World Cup means nothing, are staying up to watch this one. Still better than watching Scunthorpe on a rainy Friday night in the middle of January …
Hard to say, but for the record I’d genuinely love to have the full Scunthorpe experience at some point in my soccer-watching career.
Reader Kieran gets in touch:
I’m a fan of neither of these clubs. I am an Arsenal fan watching from the UK. In answer to your questions:
(Why are you watching?) Boredom.
(How are you staying awake?) I am running off nothing except the lights in my room and sheer dedication to the hatewatch.
The thought of what else I could be doing with my life has crossed my mind. But hey, it’s only Monday, right?
I must admit, the prospect of other teams’ fans watching this game never crossed my mind. The dedication required for this hatewatch could power a city (or a City?). Regardless, props to Kieran, whose Monday is now sure to be amazing.
He later turned the tables:
My question is, how are you staying awake?
A good question, and the answer is: somewhat easily! I’m based in New York, so this game is kicking off at a nice and comfortable (if still a little weirdly late) 9pm.
When it comes time for player intros, remember that we’ll be seeing arguably Fifa’s strangest new wrinkle added for this tournament: Individual “NBA-style” player intros.
The great Jonathan Wilson takes stock, writing that the individual walk-ons at Club World Cup underline Fifa’s failure to understand that football is a team sport.
How are you watching?
Today’s match kicks off at 2am UK time, and 5am in the UAE.
If you’re a fan of either of these teams and watching from their home locales, I gotta know:
1) Why?
2) How are you staying up / waking up?
Updated
Al Ain's XI
Goalkeeper: Khalid Eisa
Defenders: Facundo Zabala, Amadou Niang, Ramy Rabia, Adis Jašić
Midfielders: Abdoul Traore, Yahia Nader, Yong-woo Park
Forwards: Mohammed Al Baloushi, Nassim Chadli, Soufiane Rahimi
Manchester City's XI
As promised, Pep Guardiola has named a much-changed starting group for tonight’s game against Al Ain.
Goalkeeper: Stefan Ortega Moreno
Defenders: Manuel Akanji, Abdukodir Khusanov, Joško Gvardiol, Rayan Aït-Nouri
Midfielders: Nico, İlkay Gündoğan, Bernardo Silva
Wingers: Matheus Nunes, Claudio Echeverri
Striker: Erling Haaland
John Stones: ‘I want to stay’
Manchester City’s defensive stalwart has moved to shut down talk of a move away.
Updated
‘10 new players’ incoming
Pep Guardiola said he wouldn’t be shy to ring the changes for Man City ahead of their second game of the Club World Cup, telling reporters he’ll bring in an even 10 new players to the team after the tournament-opening 2-0 win over Wydad:
More from Jamie Jackson:
Updated
Preamble
Alex will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s what else has gone on today:
