Manchester City outclass Urawa Red Diamonds to reach Club World Cup final
City will face the South American champions Fluminense of Brazil in Friday's final, Urawa will face out Al Ahly of Egypt in the playoff a third place
Manchester City are through to the final of the Club World Cup, after a comfortable 3-0 victory over the Asian champions Urawa Red Diamonds in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
City will face the South American champions Fluminense of Brazil in Friday’s final, Urawa will face out Al Ahly of Egypt in the playoff a third place.
The European champions took the lead with an own goal by Marius Hoibraten in stoppage time of the first half.
Mateo Kovacic made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute with his first goal since joining City from Chelsea and Bernardo Silva’s deflected shot a few minutes later meant City could play the rest of the game in cruise control.
Pep Guardiola’s City, who had won only three of their previous eight games in all competitions, are looking to become the fourth English club to win the title after Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
They will start as heavy favourites in Friday’s final against Copa Libertadores champions Fluminense who on Monday beat Egypt’s Al-Ahly 2-0.
“The players know how important it is for the club,” Guardiola, who won the title twice with Barcelona and once with Bayern Munich, said. “To be in this final, you have to do incredible things like win the Champions League. This may be the only time we play this in our lifetime.
Story By; Princeton Wiredu
