Manchester City swatted aside Al Ain 6-0 to seal their place in the knockout stages of the Club World Cup.
Ilkay Gundogan netted twice for City at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, with Rayan Cherki helping himself to his first City goal.
Gundogan opened the scoring after eight minutes when his cross-shot floated in over Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eissa.
Claudio Echeverri doubled City’s advantage with a superb free-kick in the 27th minute to mark his first start in style, before Erling Haaland scored from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time, with Josko Gvardiol having hit the post, too.
Gundogan dinked in his second of the game midway through the second half, before two substitutes rounded off the scoring for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Oscar Bobb cut inside from the left to lash home in the 84th minute, with new signing Cherki getting in on the act with a low finish.
City sit second in Group G, meaning they must beat Juventus – who thrashed Wydad AC 4-1 – in their next match in order to avoid facing the winner of Group H, quite possibly Real Madrid, in the last 16.
10 – Pep Guardiola’s teams have won all 10 of their matches at the @FIFACWC (including previous formats), outscoring opponents 33-2 in the process. Comfortable. pic.twitter.com/6KnIkshOtT
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 23, 2025
Data Debrief: Pep’s talk works a treat
After a stuttering performance in City’s 2-0 win over Wydad on matchday one, Guardiola promised that his side would be better in their next fixture, and his much-changed team duly delivered.
City peppered Al Ain’s goal, having 21 shots and getting 11 on target, creating chances worth 3.92 expected goals, albeit that figure is helped by the spot-kick that Al Ain conceded when Ramy Rabia was adjudged to have felled Manuel Akanji following a VAR review.
Al Ain managed just one shot on target, as Guardiola maintained his 100% winning record at the Club World Cup (including the previous format), stretching that run to 10 games, with his teams outscoring their opponents 33-2.
After losing 5-0 to Juve in their opening game, Al Ain have now tied the second-largest margin of defeat in Club World Cup history, which was only set earlier on matchday two when Benfica hammered Auckland City 6-0.
