Phil Foden has goal and assist to lead Manchester City past Wydad 2-0 in Club World Cup

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Phil Foden scored two minutes into the match and later had an assist to lead Premier League powerhouse Manchester City past Moroccan club Wydad 2-0 in the Club World Cup on Wednesday.

City broke Wydad’s five-man defensive line early when Foden scored on a deflected cross by goalkeeper El Mehdi Benabid.

Jeremy Doku doubled City’s lead in the 42nd minute off a corner kick from Foden. Shortly thereafter, an animal-rights activist ran onto the field to protest Morocco’s treatment of stray dogs and cats. The man was tackled by security workers and escorted out of Lincoln Financial Field, which was just over half full with 37,446 fans in attendance.

There was another brief stoppage in the second half after a Wydad supporter threw a flare behind City’s goal.

In the 88th minute, Rico Lewis was shown a red card after a hard foul on Samuel Obeng, leaving City with 10 men on the field.

City summer signings Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders made their debuts as starters. The club’s other new signing, defender Rayan Ait-Nouri, did not play.

Key moment

Doku’s strike at the far post put the game away.

Takeaways

Manchester City leads Group G and will face Al-Ain on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Wydad remains in Philadelphia, where it will face another tough opponent in Juventus.

What they said

“(Lewis’ expulsion) is a shame because both of them go to the ground, he arrives first, touches the ball and by the inertia of going to the ground, he contacts him. Where’s the intention of hurting him? Zero.” — Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola.

“I think we played a good game. The score wasn’t the score we wanted, but that’s football. We have to improve our mistakes and try to play and be better than this game to win the next one.” — Wydad forward Samuel Obeng.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer