Manager Pep Guardiola has been left a little disappointed that Manchester City were unable to get a seventh goal in their rout of Al Ain, despite the English club securing passage to the knockout stages of the Club World Cup.<\/p>\n
German Ilkay Gundogan scored two goals as City comfortably dispatched the Emiratis 6-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, and drew level with Juventus on points and goal difference at the top of Group G.<\/p>\n
City play Juventus in their final opening-round match on Thursday to decide who tops the group and who finishes second.<\/p>\n
Juventus go into the clash with a slight edge as goals scored in the second tiebreaker after goal difference for teams level on points. Juve have scored nine goals to City\u2019s eight.<\/p>\n
In the round of 16, the top team in Group G will play the second-placed team in Group H, currently Red Bull Salzburg. The runners-up will face the top team, currently 15-time European champions Real Madrid.<\/p>\n
Juventus beat Wydad 4-1 in the other Group G match.<\/p>\n
Erling Haaland scored on a penalty, while new signing Rayan Cherki bagged one close to full-time, and Claudio Echeverri and Oscar Bobb also got on the scoring sheet for City as they aim to look past a disappointing season.<\/p>\n
With an entirely new lineup after a 2-0 win over Morocco\u2019s Wydad in the group opener, Man City produced a dominating performance in Atlanta against an overmatched club from the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n
Guardiola said that his side \u201cpushed and pushed to score another goal\u201d but ended up missing one.<\/p>\n
City\u2019s star forward Rodri came off the bench as he continues his gradual return from an ACL injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe cannot play more than 30 minutes,\u201d the Spanish manager said of Rodri\u2019s return. \u201cHe still struggles a bit in the duels, still needs to be a little bit stronger, but it\u2019s normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important he played much, much better than the previous game. We miss him a lot. Any team would miss the best player in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n