City beat Wydad in Club World Cup opener | OneFootball

Manchester City kicked off their FIFA Club World Cup campaign with a solid 2-0 win over Wydad Casablanca at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Pep Guardiola gave debuts to new signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki, and it didn’t take long for City to get going.

Phil Foden fired them in front just two minutes in - the quickest goal in Club World Cup history. The England international pounced after Wydad keeper El Mehdi Benabid parried Savinho’s effort straight into his path, netting his first City goal since January.

Wydad responded well to the early setback and nearly levelled things up just after the half-hour. Thembinkosi Lorch capitalised on a mistake from Vitor Reis and broke through on goal, but after losing his footing, he teed up Cassius Mailula, who couldn’t beat Ederson.

City doubled their lead before the break, with Jérémy Doku smashing one home following a Foden corner. The Belgian winger nearly added a third early in the second half, but his shot drifted just wide.

With the heat in Philadelphia rising and City firmly in control, the tempo naturally dropped after the restart.

The only sour note for City came when Rico Lewis was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Samuel Obeng.

Next up, City travel to Atlanta to take on Al Ain on Sunday, while Wydad stay in Philadelphia to face Juventus.