Manchester City defeated Fluminense of Brazil 4-0 and won the club World Cup title, a competition that was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Those led by ‘Pep’ Guardiola scored through Julián Álvarez, on two occasions, an own goal from Nino, both goals in the first half, and in the 72nd minute the final touch came, thanks to Phil Foden’s goal.
(Juan Pablo Montoya, crash victim in the north of Bogotá: truck crashed into him)(Tragedy in sports: basketball player was found dead in his home, video)
Easy win
The first coach to win four Club World Cup titles, also with three different teams – two with Barcelona, one with Bayern Munich and this one with Manchester City – has led City to achievements that were unthinkable not long ago.
The Club World Cup rounds off a spectacular year that joins the conquests of the Premier League, the English Cup, the Champions League and the European Super Cup.
The only thing that eluded him was the English Super Cup -Community Shield- which Arsenal took from him in the penalty shoot-out. Manchester City has not left any other loose ends this year, one step away from the legendary sextet, which expands Guardiola’s resume, already with 37 titles in his backpack, and underlines the power of the English champion in recent times.
The fourth Premier club to win the World Cup after Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, enjoyed a final without excessive surprises, an uneven duel from the beginning that reflected from the start the distance between football on the Old Continent and that of Conmebol, without success since Conthians beat Chelsea in the 2012 edition.
And in one of the first plays of the duel, City opened the scoring. In the initial minute. Fluminense, who was condemned for his own mistakes, committed suicide. Marcelo had a big one, after a throw-in, a meaningless shot of his, into no man’s land, where Nathan Ake was, who advanced a few meters and from very far away fired a shot that repelled the post.
Blunt
There was Julián Álvarez, who, with his chest, beat Fabio. Only forty seconds had passed. It was the fastest goal in a Club World Cup final. The mistake of the legendary Brazilian full-back, who aspired to win his fifth Club World Cup after the four he won with Real Madrid, was decisive. But City is not a team that wastes gifts, on the contrary.
The goal calmed Guardiola’s team, accustomed to handling finals of this type, while it upset the Libertadores champion, who rushed in search of a draw that did not come. Germán Cano and also Keno threatened, without excessive conviction, shortly before Guardiola’s team scored the second, just before the half hour mark.
It was born in a long, deep pass from Rodri to Phil Foden, who looked for a pass to Jack Grealish or Julián Álvarez, in a better position. But defender Nino got in the way and deflected the ball, which went into his own goal. The game became agitated in the final stretch before the break. Fluminense had their big chance there with a point-blank header from Colombian Jhon Arias that was deflected by Ederson in a great intervention, like the subsequent one by Fabio after a low shot by Grealish. The changes barely changed the panorama.
Although Fernando Diniz brought on John Kennedy for Keno at halftime, his team did not improve in attack. At least not lucidly. Manchester City never lost control, and they had chances to achieve a greater victory, like the one Bernardo Silva wasted. His header hit the right post and was then collected by goalkeeper Fabio, who denied another follow-up by Phil Foden.
It was the City youth player who scored the third, which rounded off the victory for the English team. In the 72nd minute, when he received a wonderful pass from the left, inside the area, from Julián Álvarez. Foden did not fail, as he beat Fabio for the third time and sealed the first Club World Cup in Manchester City’s history.
Erected as the man of the match, Julián Álvarez put the finishing touch. The Argentine opened and closed the scoring, who in the final stretch, from the front, after finding space, received a pass from the right from Matheus Nunes and rounded off the English victory and his success.
(Manchester City vs. Fluminense, Club World Cup final, see the great goals here)
2023-12-22 21:10:25
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