Manchester City beats Juventus 5-2 to win Group G of Club World Cup

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Manchester City won Group G of the Club World Cup with a dominant performance on Thursday, beating Juventus 5-2 at Camping World Stadium.

Man City went ahead 2-1 on an own goal in the 26th minute when defender Pierre Kalulu, attempting to intercept a pass at close range, sent the ball into the net.

The rout was on from there. Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Savinho scored in the second half to make it 5-1. Haaland’s goal was the 300th of his career.

Man City midfielder Rodri, last year’s Ballon d’Or winner, made his first start since he had knee ligament surgery in September. He left for a substitute in the 66th minute.

Jeremy Doku opened the scoring for Man City in the ninth minute, and Teun Koopmeiners equalized two minutes later. Dusan Vlahovic scored in the 84th minute for the Italian club, which finished second in the group.

Key moment

Juventus showed some late life when Vlahovic brought the ball into close range and found the back of the net.

Takeaways

Manchester City will face the Group H runner-up on June 30 at Orlando. Juventus will take on the Group H winner on July 1 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

What they said

“Manchester City are a very high-level team. It’s very difficulty to play against them. Today we struggled and we have to accept that.” — Juventos coach Igor Tudor.

“I’m really pleased. … We are going to try to maintain this rhythm for as long as possible.” — Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola.

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