Ilkay Gundogan scored twice as Manchester City thrashed United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain to comfortably book a place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup.
Pep Guardiola’s men backed up their opening game win over Wydad AC with a ruthless performance but will have to beat Juventus to top Group G and avoid a meeting with the winners of Real Madrid’s group.
City took the lead after only eight minutes courtesy of Gundogan’s fortuitous strike, sending an attempted chipped cross sailing over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net, while the German delightfully dinked home in the second half.
In between, Claudio Echeverri curled in a sublime free-kick from the edge of the box on his first start and Josko Gvardiol sent a header against the post as City threatened to run riot in the opening 30 minutes.
City went 3-0 up before half-time courtesy of Erling Haaland’s penalty after Ramy Rabia bundled over Manuel Akanji in the box – the referee awarding the spot-kick after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Oscar Bobb came off the bench to cut inside and fire in at the near post and fellow substitute Rayan Cherki scored his first goal for the club with a low, thumping drive late on.
Al-Ain qualified for the competition after winning the 2024 Asian Champions League under ex-Argentina striker Hernan Crespo. They are now led by former Watford boss Vladimir Ivic, but they were well beaten by their superior opponents.