Manchester City beat Juventus 5-2 on Matchday 3 of the FIFA Club World Cup group stage, securing top spot in Group G. It was their first win over Juventus since 1976.
There has been a lot of talk about Pep Guardiola’s rotation choices during the tournament, and once again he made several changes to the starting line-up. However, his team played confidently and looked well-connected. They took the lead inside 10 minutes when new signing Rayan Aït-Nouri played a perfect pass to Jérémy Doku, who cut inside and finished neatly into the far corner.
City’s lead didn’t last long, though. A poor pass from Ederson was intercepted by Teun Koopmeiners, who ran forward and scored past the City goalkeeper.
City regained the lead in bizarre fashion. Matheus Nunes sent a ball across the goal with no City player in sight, but Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu accidentally turned it into his own net. As rain poured down in Orlando just before half-time, City kept the pressure on, with Omar Marmoush and Aït-Nouri both forcing good saves from Michele Di Gregorio.
After the break, Di Gregorio couldn’t stop City’s third goal. Nunes made a strong run down the right and unselfishly passed to substitute Erling Haaland, who tapped the ball into an empty net. Juventus had a good chance to get back into the game, but Dušan Vlahović couldn’t get past Ederson in a one-on-one. Things got worse for him just seconds later, as Savinho set up Phil Foden to make it 4-1.
City’s fifth goal was the best of the lot. Savinho fired in a powerful shot from 20 yards, which flew in off the underside of the crossbar. Vlahović did score a late goal for Juventus, but it wasn’t enough to help them finish top of the group.
Juventus will now face the winners of Group H, Real Madrid, while City stay in Orlando and will play runners-up Al-Hilal.
