Ain

Goals from Haaland, Gundogan and new signing Cherki help Man City enter the tournament’s knockout stage.

Manager Pep Guardiola has been left a little disappointed that Manchester City were unable to get a seventh goal in their rout of Al Ain, despite the English club securing passage to the knockout stages of the Club World Cup.

German Ilkay Gundogan scored two goals as City comfortably dispatched the Emiratis 6-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, and drew level with Juventus on points and goal difference at the top of Group G.

City play Juventus in their final opening-round match on Thursday to decide who tops the group and who finishes second.

Juventus go into the clash with a slight edge as goals scored in the second tiebreaker after goal difference for teams level on points. Juve have scored nine goals to City’s eight.

In the round of 16, the top team in Group G will play the second-placed team in Group H, currently Red Bull Salzburg. The runners-up will face the top team, currently 15-time European champions Real Madrid.

Juventus beat Wydad 4-1 in the other Group G match.

Erling Haaland scored on a penalty, while new signing Rayan Cherki bagged one close to full-time, and Claudio Echeverri and Oscar Bobb also got on the scoring sheet for City as they aim to look past a disappointing season.

With an entirely new lineup after a 2-0 win over Morocco’s Wydad in the group opener, Man City produced a dominating performance in Atlanta against an overmatched club from the United Arab Emirates.

Guardiola said that his side “pushed and pushed to score another goal” but ended up missing one.

City’s star forward Rodri came off the bench as he continues his gradual return from an ACL injury.

“He cannot play more than 30 minutes,” the Spanish manager said of Rodri’s return. “He still struggles a bit in the duels, still needs to be a little bit stronger, but it’s normal.

“It’s important he played much, much better than the previous game. We miss him a lot. Any team would miss the best player in the world.”

In Sunday’s other results, Salzburg and Al Hilal played out a goalless draw in Group H after 10-man Real Madrid won 3-1 against Pachuca.

Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceicao each score two goals hours after the Italian team visit the White House to meet the US president.

Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceicao have both bagged braces as Juventus have hammered Al Ain 5-0 in their Club World Cup opener in Washington, DC.

The Italian giants, who sent a delegation to visit United States President Donald Trump at the White House earlier on Wednesday, cruised to the top of Group G above Manchester City, who beat Wydad AC in an earlier fixture.

Some Juventus players and staff were asked by Trump, whom they presented with a club shirt, whether they thought a woman would be able to make their first team.

Trump was making a point against transgender athletes, but Juve general manager Damien Comolli replied that the club had a “very good women’s team”.

The Juventus players stayed silent but were far more expressive later in the day, letting their on-field play do the talking as they dismantled the United Arab Emirates’s Al Ain at Audi Field.

Kolo Muani, who extended his loan from Paris Saint-Germain to play in the tournament in the US, opened the scoring after 11 minutes with a towering header from Alberto Costa’s cross.

Igor Tudor’s Juventus doubled the lead 10 minutes later when Conceicao, on loan from Porto, skipped away from one defender in the box before firing home with the help of a deflection.

Turkish forward Kenan Yildiz netted the third after 31 minutes, carving out some space on the edge of the box and drilling in at the near post.

French striker Kolo Muani grabbed his second with a deft finish in first-half stoppage time to pile on the misery for Al Ain.

Kouame Autonne had a goal disallowed for offside for the UAE side before Conceicao struck again, benefitting from another slight deflection.

Kolo Muani might have completed his hat-trick when sent through, but goalkeeper Rui Patricio shut him down well, and Douglas Luiz blasted narrowly off-target late on.

Juventus, who finished fourth in Serie A, are hoping to make up for a trophyless season with success in the Club World Cup.