Man City hit six to reach Club World Cup last 16

June 23, 2025 / 9:17 AM

Sharjah 24 – AFP: Manchester City hit Al Ain for six on Sunday to secure a place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup after Real Madrid shrugged off an early red card to beat Mexican side Pachuca 3-1.

The match between City and Al Ain in Atlanta was dubbed the "Abu derby", with the English club's owner and United Arab Emirates vice-president Sheikh Mansour facing off against his elder sibling, Sheikh Mohamed, president of the Emirati team and also the country.

Ilkay Gundogan put City ahead early on before 19-year-old Claudio Echeverri netted his first goal for the club with a free-kick and Erland Haaland slotted in the third with a penalty in first-half stoppage time.

In the second half, Gundogan struck again before two substitutes joined in, with Oscar Bobb rolling in the fifth and Rayan Cherki grabbing his first City goal for 6-0.

The result, in a game watched by a crowd of over 40,000, means both City and Juventus are through to the knockout phase after each winning their first two matches in Group G.

They will now face each other in Orlando on Thursday to decide who tops the section.

"Now we have to see whether we'll be first or second in the group," said City coach Pep Guardiola, who changed his entire starting line-up following the 2-0 opening win against Wydad.

"We played a little bit better than the first game, especially in the second half."