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Club World Cup: Manchester City score six, Real, Juve win

Sports · Dennis Masinde · June 23, 2025
Club World Cup: Manchester City score six, Real, Juve win
Erling Haaland celebrates with Matheus Nunes after scoring Manchester City's third goal against Al Ain FC at the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta [Patricia De Melo Moreira. PHOTO/AFP
In Summary

Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring early before 19-year-old Claudio Echeverri netted his first goal for City with a stunning free-kick.

Manchester City powered into the last 16 of the Club World Cup with a 6-0 demolition of Al Ain on Sunday, as Real Madrid overcame an early red card to beat Mexican side Pachuca 3-1, and Juventus eased past Wydad Casablanca.

The match between City and Al Ain, played in Atlanta, was dubbed the "Abu derby" due to the family rivalry between the clubs’ backers , City’s owner and UAE vice-president Sheikh Mansour faced off against his elder brother Sheikh Mohamed, who is president of the Emirati side and also the country.

Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring early before 19-year-old Claudio Echeverri netted his first goal for City with a stunning free-kick. Erling Haaland added a third from the penalty spot just before halftime.

City continued their dominance in the second half. Gundogan scored again, before substitutes Oscar Bobb and Rayan Cherki completed the rout in front of a crowd of over 40,000 fans.

The result saw City qualify for the knockout stage alongside Juventus, who also registered back-to-back wins in Group G. The two sides will meet on Thursday in Orlando to determine who finishes top of the group.

"Now we have to see whether we'll be first or second in the group," said City coach Pep Guardiola, who had rotated the entire starting line-up from their 2-0 win against Wydad. "We played a little bit better than the first game, especially in the second half."

In Philadelphia, Juventus beat Wydad 4-1 with Turkish forward Kenan Yildiz playing a key role. He forced the early own goal by Abdelmounaim Boutouil, then struck a brilliant half-volley for Juve’s second before adding a third midway through the second half. Dusan Vlahovic sealed the victory with a late penalty.

South African winger Thembinkosi Lorch had earlier pulled one back for Wydad.

"He has great potential," Juventus coach Igor Tudor said of Yildiz. "A wonderful player, so there is a big future in front of him."

In Charlotte, Real Madrid recovered from an early setback to claim their first win under new coach Xabi Alonso. Defender Raul Asencio was shown a red card just seven minutes in for bringing down Salomon Rondon.

Despite being reduced to 10 men, Real took the lead through Jude Bellingham’s precise strike before Arda Guler doubled the advantage. Fede Valverde scored the third after the break, with Pachuca grabbing a consolation through a deflected Elias Montiel effort.

The win comes amid fresh allegations from defender Antonio Rudiger, who reportedly faced racist insults during the match.

More fixtures are set for Monday as the Club World Cup enters its second week.

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