City on the rise, and Juve are also smiling: Pep's 6-0 win over Al Ain sends Tudor to the last 16
And in the end, Juventus laughs. That Manchester City would have overwhelmed Al Ain was clear even to those who know little about football, that is, even at the latitudes of Atlanta, the scene of this unequal challenge, to put it mildly. It was all about seeing at what degree on the Beaufort scale of football the Guardiola wind would have swept away the unfortunate Emiratis. Well, it went up to 6, not enough to guarantee Pep's gang first place in Group G, the only one in the Club World Cup in which we already have the two teams qualified for the knockout stage. It's a question of goal difference. City is at +8 like the Bianconeri, after the 6-0 against Al Ain, but with one less goal scored. So, a draw will be enough for the Old Lady on Thursday night against the English (9 pm Italian time in Orlando) to go top of the class and (maybe) avoid the threat of Real Madrid in the round of 16.
Guardiola changes his entire eleven compared to his debut against Wydad, dusting off the three-man defense and launching for the first time as a starter the talented Echeverri, 21' in a City jersey from January to today. He can afford it, because the squad has widespread quality even among the last of the reserves and Al Ain, already thrashed by Tudor's Juve in their debut on American soil, are not scary. After 8' of one-way dribbling, here comes the 1-0: Gundogan collects a corner from Silva beyond the second post, skips past an opponent and draws a lob with his left foot that goes over the uncertain Eisa, preferred (but why?) to Rui Patricio. At 15' the Emirati jolt: Nico Gonzalez has the ball stolen from him by Traore, good at verticalizing immediately for Chadli who also shoots well, but Ortega deflects with an exceptional reflex. Do we have a match? No, no illusions. Echeverry, in fact, doubles the score at 27' with a dead-leaf free kick from another era. A minute later, Haaland misses the third after skipping past Eisa and at 32' Gvardiol heads the ball off the post on another Silva corner. Last but not least, in a first half with over 320 passes to just over 80, Rabia has the smart idea of bringing down Akanji in a melee: VAR intervention, penalty and Haaland celebrates from the spot for 3-0.
At this point, it becomes clear to everyone how the size of the score can make a difference in the group standings. And yet, City falls asleep. OK, first Nunes and then Haaland (twice one-on-one with Eisa in the space of a few seconds) would have the chance to score again, the fact is that we get to almost half an hour of the second half with just three goals left. Almost, because in the 28th minute Gundogan, served perfectly by Silva, beats the goalkeeper with a touch and scores the poker. The flurry of substitutions gives new energy to Pep's team, while Al Ain throws in the towel: 39', Bobb scores five with his left foot. And shortly after, Cherki closes the set at 6-0. There is still injury time to play and from the bench Guardiola reminds his team that the seventh seal is needed to overtake Juve. The good ball reaches Foden, but the Three Lions international from two steps away incredibly kicks right at Eisa. Pep doesn't take it very well: "We knew we had to score as many goals as possible and we moved late", he will scold his players after the match. To make up for it, he will now have to beat Tudor's team. Maybe with Reijnders (yesterday 90' watching) on the pitch.
La Gazzetta dello Sport
