Manchester City continued their strong run at the FIFA Club World Cup with a dominant 5-2 win over Juventus on Thursday at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
The result keeps City at the top of Group G with a perfect record from three matches. With the win, Pep Guardiola’s team now looks likely to avoid facing Spanish giants Real Madrid in the round of 16 — a challenge that Juventus may have to deal with.
City started brightly, putting pressure on Juventus from the first whistle. In just the 9th minute, City took the lead after a well-worked team move ended with Jeremy Doku calmly slotting the ball into the bottom corner following a clever pass from Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Juventus equalised shortly after, capitalising on a poor pass from goalkeeper Ederson. The Brazilian’s mistake allowed Teun Koopmeiners to intercept and score to make it 1-1.
However, Juventus gifted City a goal of their own in the 26th minute. French defender Pierre Kalulu mistakenly turned a low cross from Matheus Nunes into his own net, giving City a 2-1 lead.
After a short rain delay before half-time, Guardiola introduced star striker Erling Haaland in the second half. It didn’t take long for the Norwegian to make an impact, scoring in the 52nd minute from close range after another assist from Nunes. The goal marked Haaland’s 300th career strike.
Rodri, returning from injury for his first start since September 2024, was substituted in the 66th minute to applause from the crowd. He was replaced by Ilkay Gundogan.
City weren’t done. A long pass from Ederson found Haaland, who crossed into the box. The ball missed Phil Foden, but Brazilian winger Savinho recovered and set up Foden to score a simple tap-in for the fourth goal.
Moments later, Savinho got on the scoresheet himself, blasting home a powerful shot off the underside of the bar after Haaland’s effort had been saved.
Juventus grabbed a consolation goal late on. Young forward Kenan Yildiz showed great vision to set up Dusan Vlahovic, who scored from the edge of the box.
City’s commanding performance sends a clear message to other top teams in the tournament. They now wait to see who they will face in the knockout stage, while Juventus face a nervous wait as other results will determine their next opponent.
