Friday 22 December 2023
FIFA Club World Cup Final 2023
Manchester City Vs Fluminense
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
MANCHESTER CITY
MAKE HISTORY AFTER FIFA CWC WIN.
Manchester
City won their first FIFA CWC after beating Fluminense 4-0 in the final.
MATCH PREVIEW:
It all comes down to two teams. The European champions
against the South American champions, as these two battle it out to be crowned “CHAMPIONS
OF THE WORLD”. Manchester City were directly entered into the semi-finals
of this edition, thanks to Rodri’s UCL winning goal on the 10th of
June in Istanbul to seal the treble after they beat Inter Milan 1-0. They arrive at the final on the back of a comfortable 3-0 win against Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday's semi-final thanks to goals from Mateo
Kovačić, Bernardo Silva and an own goal, got them here. Whilst
their South American opponents, Fluminense qualified directly to the semi-finals of the FIFA CWC thanks to their 2-1
victory against Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores in November 2023. They arrive at the final thanks to a comfortable hard-working 2-0 win against AFCON Champions League winners, Al Ahly of Egypt. Their returning
star, Marcelo, who is 35 years old, has won this competition with Real Madrid 4
times. Can he win his 5th and make his team the 3rd Brazilian
team to win the FIFA Club World Cup, or will Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have
their say and win their 5th trophy in a calendar year by winning
this final?
TEAM NEWS:
Pep Guardiola makes 3 changes from their semi-final win
against Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, this sees Julian Álvarez, Rúben Dias,
and 19-year-old Rico Lewis start in place of Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes and Mateo
Kovačić, who drop to the bench in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The 29-year-old Mateo
Kovačić, is looking to win this trophy with 3 different clubs, having won it with
Real Madrid and Chelsea. Ederson stands between the sticks, in a back 4 of
captain Kyle Walker, John Stones, Rúben Dias
and Nathan Aké. Rodri and Rico Lewis play
as the holding midfielders, with Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden
playing the 3 in the attacking midfield, as the man leading the line is Julian Álvarez, who is looking to win his 7th trophy overall.
Having won the FIFA World Cup and Copa America with Argentina & the treble
of Premier League, Emirates FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League, along with the UEFA
Super Cup achieved this year, the FIFA CWC is his next target and could become
the first Argentine to win all these trophies at the age of 23.
The Manchester City team showed 3 changes before kick-off today.
Meanwhile, interim Brazil national team coach, Fernando Diniz
keeps the same team that beat Egyptian side Al Ahly in the semi-final, with
43-year-old GK Fabio between the sticks, with 35-year-old 4-time FIFA Club
World Cup winner Marcelo at LB.
The injured trio of Erling Haaland (foot issue), Kevin De Bruyne (long-term hamstring injury) and Jeremy Doku (muscle injury) watched their team from the stands as they continued their recoveries from their respective injuries.
KICK-OFF: FIRST HALF
Off we go in the FIFA Club World Cup final here in Jeddah. And it's only 40 seconds into the final but Manchester City are in front already!! Nathan
Aké pounced on Marcelo's clearance and attempted a shot which hit the post and Julian Álvarez was there to chest in the follow-up. Good pressure from City to force the mistake from Fluminense as they capitalised on the error made by the former Real Madrid left-back, Marcelo. Aké's 24-yard strike was parried onto the post by Fabio, but the ball came to ST Julian Álvarez, who decided to chest the ball into the back of the net instead of tapping in with his boot. This is the fastest-ever goal in a Club World Cup final. What a start this is from the European champions. 1-0 up inside the opening minute.
Julian Álvarez scored City's first goal of the FIFA CWC final after only 40 seconds. MCI 1 - FLU 0.
This was a terrific start from the European Treble winners, can Fluminense conjure up an equaliser to level the game? As they try to find a leveller, Ederson fouls German Cano on the 16th minute, after he rounded the former Benfica GK, and initially, referee Szymon Marciniak awarded a penalty to the Copa Libertadores winners, but had to overturn his original decision as soon as the assistant referee raised his flag for offside against the Brazilian midfielder. A lucky escape for Man City.Ederson's foul on German Cano was intially given as a penalty, but was overturned due to offside.
And after an exchange of blows with City applying the pressure on the Brazilian team, they created a second goal on 27 minutes. Jack Grealish and Rodri worked together to find Phil Foden, and although the 23-year-old former academy player, crossed into the box, the deflection came off Fluminense captain Nino beyond Fabio's reach to make it 2-0. A very unfortunate moment for the Brazilian CB as his side are now 2 goals down to City. A lucky deflection, but regardless, 2-0 upon the 30 minute mark.
Foden's cross came off captain Nino for an own goal on 27 minutes. MCI 2 - FLU 0
Not much luck for the Brazilians at the moment, but they did have an effort on 37 minutes, when Marcelo's corner found Jhon Arias , but his header was expertly saved by Ederson to prevent Fluminense from scoring. After all of the chances and offsides, it was finally HT in Jeddah. A quite comfortable first half for Manchester City. Despite all the scrappy work in maintaing the ball, they managed to pressurise their opponents throughout the game.
KICK-OFF: SECOND HALF
Before the second half started, head coach Diniz turns to his bench as he sends on Brazilian forward John Kennedy, whose goal won them the Copa Libertadores in extra time thanks to his goal. The second half commences, and it was still all City throughout the game as they continued to apply the press on Fluminense, which causes them to win the ball back. And the first yellow card of the game came on 57 minutes. LB Marcelo goes into the book after nudging Rico Lewis to the ground as the recieved the first booking of the final.
Marcelo fouled Rico Lewis to get booked on 57 minutes, the game's first booking.
With the plan not seeming to work, Fluminense made a triple substitution, with Marcelo, Henrique Ganso and Felipe Melo come off with Diogo Barbosa, Alexsander and Lima on for the trio as they look to find a way back into the game. At the same time, Manchester City made their first substitution of the game, with Mateo Kovačić, who scored in City's 3-0 semi-final win, on for Rico Lewis, to see off the final 30 minutes. But then a setback for City, and it was their key man, Rodri. As he tried to advance on, the 27-year-old Spaniard was caught by Aleksander on the foot and the Brazilian defender was awarded a yellow card for that foul, causing pain for Rodri's left foot.
Alexsander was shown a yellow card by Marciniak after the Brazilian's foul on Rodri, who is in pain after the challenge.
Even though he was on the pitch, Mateo Kovačić and Julian Álvarez worked together to tee up Phil Foden, who scored the 3rd goal of the final on 72 minutes. From the free kick taken by Rúben Dias, the ball came between Samuel Xavier and Kovačić, which the Croatian won the battle and found Julian Álvarez and in return, the Argentine's cross was met by Phil Foden. A well-worked team goal as Manchester City edged closer to the Club World Cup trophy with 18 minutes to play.
Phil Foden celebrates his side's 3rd goal after sliding in Álvarez's cross into the net on 72 minutes.
MCI 3 - FLU 0
A perfect team goal achieved, but City had to deal with Rodri's injury concern, and due to this, he was subbed off on 74 minutes and he was to be replaced by Manuel Akanji. Another City change saw Joško Gvardiol replace the impressive John Stones, with the Croatian brought on to play at CB, with Akanji playing in Rodri's role, which was CDM. At the other end, Marlon replaced captain Nino, with the armband given to Andre, who will captain the team for the final quarter of an hour.
Guardiola appreciates Rodri's performance despite a foot problem for the Spanish midfielder after being subbed off on 74 minutes.
Fluminese's second shot on target came on 79 minutes, when John Kennedy's shot was palmed over the bar by Ederson, after making a well-timed run to win a corner for his team. Manchester City made their final substitutions by sending on Matheus Nunes and 20-year-old Norwegian academy graduate Oscar Bobb for the final 10 minutes of the contest, as they replace Nathan Aké and the phenomenal Phil Foden, these changes meant that players were shifted around a bit, with Croatian Gvardiol playing at LB alongside Akanji, Dias and captain Kyle Walker, whilst Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovačić play in the holding roles, with Oscar Bobb taking Foden's place at RW, which sees Bernardo Silva play as a central CAM with Jack Grealish on the wing as Julian Álvarez remains up top. And the third yellow card arrived on 84 minutes with substitute John Kennedy stopping Portuguese midfielder, Matheus Nunes from going forward, saw him take a yellow card for the team with 5 minutes to play. Manchester City sealed the game on 88 minutes. Matheus Nunes found Álvarez and he took a few touches including a fake shot, to then fire into the bottom corner to eventually seal the deal. What a day it was for the 23-year-old, as he scored his second goal of the night to go with his first-half strike and his assist to Foden's goal. Man City were in dreamland after this.
Julian Álvarez celebrates his second goal of the final with Matheus Nunes and Oscar Bobb.
MCI 4 - FLU 0.
AND THAT IS THAT!! THE FULL TIME WHISTLE HAS GONE AND MANCHESTER CITY ARE CLUB WORLD CUP WINNERS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN FROM THE ENGLISH CHAMPIONS, a treble from last season to go with their Super Cup triumph in August against Sevilla, to now winning the final here in Jeddah against Fluminense to seal their 5th trophy in a calender year!! THE CELEBRATIONS BEGIN from the supporters and the team!!POST-MATCH PHOTOS:
Nathan Aké and Rúben Dias celebrate their team's victory at full-time.
Despite not playnig the semi-final and the final, Kevin De Bruyne joins his team's celebrations after City won 4-0 in the final.
Despite going out injured in the second half, Rodri won the golden ball for his MOTM peformance against Urawa Red Diamonds, and his terrfiic performance throughout the compeition.
Captain Kyle Walker receives the silver ball for his contribution to Manchester City's Club World Cup success.
Despite his team's 4-0 loss to Man City, Jhon Arias receives the bronze ball for his contribution to Fluminense's road to the FIFA CWC final.
For their run to the final, Fluminense finished their campaign as runners-up in the final
Egyptian side Al Ahly received their 3rd place medals after their 4-2 win today against Urawa Red Diamonds in the third-place playoff game.
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