Manchester City brush aside Urawa Red Diamonds to book place in Club World Cup final
Pep Guardiola's charges put domestic failures behind them
Manchester City have endured a poor campaign based on pre-season expectations and their vast resources, yet they were able to put those domestic negatives to the back of their minds as they swept to a 3-0 victory in the Club World Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
Pep Guardiola's charges were given barely any trouble by Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, as their comfortable victory ensured the Blues would face off against Fluminense in the Club World Cup final.
Matheus Nunes has yet to fully set his Manchester City career alight since signing from Wolves in the summer, yet he was given a rare start by the former Barcelona coach.
The Portuguese midfielder actually provided the best chance of the first-half when he sped through the middle of the field, leaving a number of Urawa midfielders in his wake, only for his shot to be parried away by Shusaku Nishikawa.
In injury-time at the end of the first-half, Manchester City took a 1-0 lead through a Marius Hoibraaten own-goal.
Jose Kante opened the second half with a smart shot for the Japanese side, however it was blocked well by a City defender.
This early pressure led to nothing for the Asian representative in the Club World Cup, and Manchester City made it 2-0 after 52 minutes of play.
Kyle Walker played an excellent pass into the center towards Mateo Kovacic, and the Croatian produced an exquisite first touch before setting up a powerful drive into the back of the net.
Just six minutes later it was 3-0 and game over. Bernardo Silva tried his luck from the edge of the Urawa penalty area and it bounced into the net courtesy of a deflection.
The result puts the defending champions of Europe in the final where they will face the
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