2023 Club World Cup: Knock Out Urawa, Man City Against Fluminense In Final

Manchester City qualified for the Club World Cup final after beating Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in the semifinals. (X/@ManCity)

JAKARTA - Manchester City stepped into the 2023 Club World Cup final after beating Asian champions Urawa Red Diamonds 3- at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Wednesday, December 20 in the morning WIB. In the final, Man City faced Fluminense.

Man City for the first time qualified for the final in the world club championship. The reason is, Man City won the Champions League for the first time so he became a representative of Europe in the championship.

The success of advancing to the final made Man City hunt for the winning record as well as completing the championship trophy. Previously, The Cityzens won trebles by winning the English Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

Their success continued by becoming the full ruler of Europe after winning the UEFA Super Cup by defeating Europa Sevilla League champions on penalties. Man City hopes to complete the trophy by aiming for the Club World Cup.

Pep Guardiola's manager also doesn't want to lose by chasing a trophy record. If Man City wins, then Guardiola will be the first manager to win the trophy for the fourth time. Previously, he did it with Barcelona twice and Bayern Munich once.

Man City himself advanced to the final in the 2023 edition to face the champions of the Libertadores Fluminense Cup who beat Al Ahly 2-0 in the semifinals. The top match was held at the same place at King Abdullah Sports City, Saturday, December 20, on WIB day.

In the match against Urawa which is the champion of the Asian Champions League, Man City has not been strengthened by an injured Erling Haaland striker. However, Man City is still too strong for Urawa.

With Haaland's absence, Guardiola did not place a single spearhead in the match, but fielded the attacking duo Matheus Nunes and Bernardo Silva.

However, Man City continued to show dominance. However, Man City was frustrated by the neat and solid Urrawa game organization.

Even Man City had to work hard to dismantle the J1 League team's defense throughout the first half. Moreover, goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa performed brilliantly. He also struggled several times to save.

Midfielder Rodri started Man City's threat to the Urrawa defense when the game was running for eight minutes. Then Silva has forced Nishikawa to work hard.

The veteran goalkeeper, who is 37, again impressed when he thwarted two of Man City's golden opportunities. Nunes and Phil Foden were unable to convert the opportunity into goals because of Nishikawa.

After the bumpy attack always failed, the patience of Man City players finally paid off after the Urrawa player made a mistake. Yes, Marius Hoibraten made an own goal in first-half injury time.

This Norwegian defender tried to thwart Nunes' attack in collaboration with Silva. But instead he made a mistake which led to the ball sliding into his own goal.

The 1-0 advantage made Man City play more pressing the opponent's defense in the second half. They also fully control the match.

This time, it was easier for Man Ciy to break into the Urawa goal. It was started by Mateo Kovacic who completed Kyle Walker's assist in the 52nd minute.

Not long ago or seven minutes later, Man City completed the win through Silva.

The score changed to 3-0 and lasted until the end of the match. Man City stepped into the final to face the elite Brazilian team who became Conmebol's representative.