Jeremy Doku put on a brilliant display with plenty of support and some help from the opposition as Manchester City defeated Juventus 5-2 in the deciding match in the Club World Cup’s Group G on Thursday in Orlando.
“We played well. I’m happy with the victory,” Doku said. “Now we’re just curious to see who we’re going to play against.”
Defender Pierre Kalulu’s gaffe on a cross from Savinho past his own keeper nudged City into the lead, 2-1 at the 26th minute. In the 52nd minute, striker Erling Haaland scored while shuffling his feet with a touch that bounded into an open net on a dish from Matheus Nunes. It was the 300th career goal combined for team and country for the 24-year-old Norweigan in only his seventh minute in Thursday’s match.
Phil Foden entered off the bench and tapped in the fourth goal of the match (69th minute). Haaland’s header failed only for Savinho to power a rebound off the crossbar and into goal to make it 5-1 in the 75th minute.
Juventus trimmed the lead on a breakaway from Dusan Vlahovic, who scored for the second consecutive match in the 84th minute.
Effectively tied entering the match with two wins, Man City leapt Juventus to the top of the table in a decisive victory that also bumped them to the top of the tournament with 13 goals. City (3-0-0, 9 points) became the only club to win all three matches in the group stage.
As the Group G winner, City stays in Orlando for Monday’s quarterfinal match with the Group H runner-up. The opponent will be determined later Thursday in a match between RB Salzburg and Real Madrid. Juventus (2-1-0, 6 points) is headed to Miami as the runner-up in Group G.
Man City went ahead 2-1 and held the margin at halftime, marking first at the nine-minute mark when Doku hit the brakes in front of the net and found the top right corner.
Teun Koopmeiners evened the score two minutes later, but that was the final indication of a close tussle.
The victory was Man City’s first outright over Juventus since 1976.
–Field Level Media
