Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Liveupdated

Man City v Urawa Reds LIVE: Result and reaction from Club World Cup as City cruise into final

Man City 3-0 Urawa Red Diamonds: Goals for Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva, as well as an own goal, did the job in Saudi Arabia

Luke Baker
Tuesday 19 December 2023 20:00 GMT
Comments
Academy investment is really paying off - Guardiola

Manchester City outclassed Urawa Red Diamonds in a 3-0 victory in the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium to set up a Club World Cup final showdown against Brazilian side Fluminense.

European champions City were frustrated by a well-organised Japanese side during the opening half but took the lead with an own goal by Marius Hoibraten in stoppage time.

Mateo Kovacic made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute 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.

Relive the action below

FULL-TIME! Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

Here are the three Man City goals from tonight.

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:58

FULL-TIME! Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

And that’s it! Man City cruise pretty comfortably into the Club World Cup final with a 3-0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds.

Fluminese await in the final on Friday and will likely pose a bigger test.

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:52

Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

90 mins: More nice play from Bobb as he links with Nunes and the ball is flicked into the path of Alvarez but it’s nicked away for a corner.

That corner comes out to Kovacic but his shot is well over. Three minutes of added time to be played.

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:50

Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

88 mins: Kalvin Phillips sees his name up in lights and has a pop from 25 yards. It’s always curling wide though.

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:47

Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

84 mins: Nunes gets himself a yellow card for a trip in the middle of the field. The Urawa free-kick comes to nothing though.

At the other end, Alvarez bursts through on the left but Nishikawa is off his line to dive and deflect the ball away from the Argentine.

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:44

SAVE! Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

81 mins: Well, more tackle than save really. Ederson quick off his line after the ball bounces off a couple of players and comes into the path of Shoya - the City keeper lunging with his foot to flick the ball away form the striker after a slightly heavy touch. Any centre-back would have been proud of that tackle!

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:41

Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

80 mins: Another Urawa Reds change as Kai Shibato comes on for Iwao. This game petering out a bit now but you’d think Man City have another goal in them.

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:39

SAVE! Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

76 mins: Nishikawa stays big to stop Alvarez adding a fourth. Once again it comes through Bobb who dummies left and goes right, getting to the byline once more. His cutback finds Alvarez 10 yards out who hits it first time past a sliding defender but Nishikawa gets his body behind it

Then more City subs as the lesser-spotted Kalvin Phillips and Sergio Gomez come on for Stones and Rodri.

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:37

Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

74 mins: Nice touch by the always-lively Oscar Bobb but can’t quite get his shot on target as it drifts wide. In the very next attack he weaves his way to the byline but his cutback is cleared. Absolute talent.

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:34

Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds

70 mins: City calm things back down after that near moment of madness.

Luke Baker19 December 2023 19:30

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in