Manchester City started their FIFA Club World Cup campaign with a strong 2-0 win over Wydad Casablanca from Morocco on Wednesday at Lincoln Financial Field. Phil Foden scored their opening goal in just the second minute, giving the former Premier League winners a strong start.
Foden took advantage of Wydad custodian Mehdi Benabid’s parry of Savinho’s cross and scored with his first touch to give City an early lead. After giving up the first goal, Wydad showed strength, and in the 15th minute, forward Cassius Mailula almost tied the game with a daring lob from midfield.
Then, Mohamed Moufid tried to mess with the City by sending in a low cross with Thembinkosi Lorch, but the South African forward didn’t make it in time. In the 42nd minute, City extended their lead when Foden sent a perfect corner to Jeremy Doku, who scored their second goal.
Even though both teams tried to score, the score stayed the same till the final whistle. This meant that the Premier League club had a great start to their season.
Manchester City didn’t have important players like Erling Haaland, Rodri, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Josko Gvardiol, and John Stones because manager Pep Guardiola wanted to keep their workload manageable.
However, the City had a big problem late in the game when Rico Lewis got a red card in the 88th minute. Manchester City will now go to Atlanta to play their second game against Al Ain from the UAE Pro League. This game is set on June 22.
