Manchester City 2-0 Wydad AC: Routine City win blemished by controversial Rico Lewis red card | OneFootball

Despite going down to 10 men, Manchester City secured a routine 2-0 victory against Moroccan outfit Wydad AC to kick off their Club World Cup campaign.

Phil Foden gave his side the lead in just the second minute, and Jérémy Doku made it two just before halftime.

In the final five minutes, a match that had otherwise gone without a hitch for The Citizens was blighted by a red card for Rico Lewis after he collided with Samuel Obeng following a slide tackle, but with such little time left, Wydad were unable to capitalise on their man advantage.

It was a game for which so much intrigue was placed on the debuts of Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders, but it was the old guard who won the day for City.

As it happened

At Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Manchester City flew out of the blocks, taking the lead in just the second minute. From a Wydad point of view, it was thoroughly avoidable; Savinho sent a cross into the six-yard box and goalkeeper Mehdi Benabid could only parry the ball back into the danger area, where Foden was positioned perfectly to send the rebound into the bottom corner to notch his first goal in 20 appearances.

As was to be expected, Pep Guardiola’s side went on to dominate possession. However, their high defensive line was exploited on numerous occasions throughout the rest of the half, most notably when Ederson was forced into a close-range save in the 32nd minute to deny Cassius Mailula, who’d been gifted a one-on-one with the keeper after Thembinkosi Lorch jinked past Vitor Reis following a rapid counterattack.

Nevertheless, City would go on to double their lead just before halftime when Foden’s in-swinging corner was met by Doku, with the Belgian having just snuck in front of ball-watching defender Abdelmounaim Boutouil to volley into the near corner. The club announced the arrival of new set piece coach James French at the start of June, and, on this evidence, his methods already seem to have rubbed off on the players.

Come the second half, Guardiola’s men successfully tightened up at the back while maintaining their control of the ball, although chances came at a premium. Their first notable effort came again from Doku, who robbed Guilherme Ferreira of possession before trying to slot an effort into the bottom corner, which was ultimately pushed away from danger by Benabid.

For their part, Wydad were largely limited to speculative efforts, particularly from Mohamed Moufid and Lorch, which didn’t trouble Ederson.

There was drama in the final five minutes of the match, as Lewis was given his marching orders after the follow through of a slide tackle saw his studs collide with substitute Obeng’s face. VAR looked at the decision, but his fate was to be unchanged.

Still, Wydad were unable to reduce the arrears in the little time that remained following the red card, and in fact, City may well have made it three right at the end if substitute Erlind Haaland hadn’t had his late shot saved brilliantly by Benabid.

Two would have to do for a Manchester City side who took all three points as was expected, with a trip to Atlanta awaiting them for their next game against Al Ain. As for Wydad, they will face Italian giants Juventus, once again in Philadelphia, in their efforts to kickstart their Club World Cup campaign.

The lineups

MCI: Ederson; Lewis, Reis, Aké, O’Reilly; Reijnders; Savinho, Foden, Cherki, Doku; Marmoush

WAC: Benabid; Moufid, Ferreira, Meijers, Boutouil, Moufi; Amrabat, Zemraoui, Moubarik, Lorch; Mailula