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That was all she wrote for the semi-finals of the Club World Cup.
Manchester City will meet Fluminense in Friday’s final and we’ll have live MBM coverage here, to see who wins that.
Thanks for reading and emailing in, goodbye, and don’t forget to read Nick Ames’ match report:
Nick Ames
Semi-finals do not come much easier than this. Manchester City will fight for the World Club Cup title against Fluminense on Friday and they were not given the slightest trouble by Urawa Red Diamonds, who only managed one shot all night.
The Japanese side had held out gamely enough until Marius Høibråten, their centre-back, scored an unnecessary own goal in first-half stoppage time; from there the score could have been anything City wanted but they settled for further strikes from Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva, both of which stemmed from marvellous pieces of initiative from their own defenders.
Via the magic of X, here are all City’s goals (no doubt unavailable in other territories, including New Mexico.)
Scott Murray has Chelsea v Newcastle in the Worthington Cup, right here:
(Plus goal updates from around the grounds.)
We’ve got a match report of Urawa Reds 0-3 Manchester City coming up.
Stoke City have filled their vacant hot seat by hiring Steven Schumacher, the manager of Championship rivals Plymouth Argyle.
The TNT broadcast finished swiftly, so there will be no reaction on the telly.
Instead, thanks to Bryan’s Gunn on X, here is A Reaction.
City fans may look at renaming today’s opposition the “Who are yer” Reds.
I’m here all week.
Manchester City will face Fluminense of Brazil in the Fifa World Cup final on Friday.
Urawa Reds battled hard and very effectively in the first half but the concession of the own-goal just before half time felt like game over, given City’s dominance. So it proved. Guardiola will be happy with that attacking effort, City got their passing flowing at times and could have scored more. On the downside there was some more defensive confusion that cropped up at times.
Full time! Urawa Reds 0-3 Manchester CityAll over.
90 min: Three minutes of added time minimum …
90 min: “Channelling your inner Chris Kamara on 67 minutes,” emails James.
Fair, very fair.
Kammy! Legend88 min: Grealish now looks like the kid in the school game who’s three times as good as anyone on the pitch, dribbling around past would-be tacklers in midfield. That defensive effort in the first half took it out of Urawa, but it was a very good effort indeed. Sergio Gomez hits a shot over the crossbar. Bored-looking City players are pictured in the stands.
87 min: Kalvin Phillips hits an ambitious yet decent effort from distance that is always swerving wide.
85 min: It’s coming up to midnight in Saudi Arabia.
Despite what I said earlier, I think the atmosphere is actually decent, it’s just the crowd noise isn’t very high in the audio mix. There’s plenty of singing and drumming going on and occasional cutaway shots of happy fans.
83 min: The Reds lose the ball while pushing forwards. Grealish skips into midfield and is scythed down. No booking. Nunes was booked for City a minute ago (the Fifa site says Nunes, the TNT commentator says it was Bobb.)
81 min: As for Kári’s email, I guess this match has come at a good time, as something to build some confidence after a very indifferent run. But sure, the final will be harder.
80 min: Ederson rushes off his line to execute a fine tackle on Shoya after the ball bounces off a City body. That was a big opening for the Reds and good work by Ederson.
79 min: “The Club World Cup will matter a lot if Fluminese manage to win, because for the Brazilians it’ll be a great triumph over the best Europe can offer,” Kári Tulinius emails. “While City are on the verge of a crisis, and losing a final might just send them over the edge.”
77 min: Gomez and Phillips come on for City. Rodri and Stones off.
For the Reds, Shibato comes on for Iwao.
76 min: City nearly score again, this time it’s Alvarez, teed up by Bobb, who gets to the byline and cuts it back for a close-range shot for his teammate. The Urawa Reds defence is increasingly ragged.
73 min: I’ve never been to Sante Fe but I have been to Albuquerque, where relatives of mine used to run a fish restaurant. True story.
Prefab! Underrated.The intriguingly-named city of Truth or Consequences is just down the road.
69 min: Bobb, who scored his first goal for City against Red Star last week, hammers a shot from just inside the area that flies wide. Guardiola holds his hands aloft as he applauds. Then more smart work from Bobb in the Urawa penalty area a minute or so later.
67 min: A couple of minutes ago there was another scare at the back for City. Someone lost it, then someone on the other team had it, then someone from City booted it clear. Sorry, I didn’t really see it, as I was trying to look at the substitutions.
65 min: Changes for City. Alvarez, Gvardiol and Oscar Bobb come on – Silva, Akanji and Foden off.
Linssen, Nakajima, Schalk and Ogiwara are all on for Urawa Reds.
64 min: “The collective groan heard across Santa Fe when Bernardo Silva stabbed home the killer goal had officials considering canceling Christmas celebrations in the Plaza,” emails Richard Short. “Only to be convinced otherwise by that wonderful video of a young Christian Bale singing about their city. Christmas will indeed happen in New Mexico, albeit without the Urawa bunting as previously planned.”
63 min: Jeff Sax got in touch earlier: “This is such an irrelevant competition.”
A few minutes later, Joe Pearson piped up: “Not to go all Jeff Sax on you, but this competition is a joke.”
Akanji plays a good ball up to the feet of Nunes from the back. Yawning gaps are opening in the opposition defence, whereas in the first half there were none. Nunes has time to turn and power a good on-target shot which is parried by Nishikawa at a decent height for the keeper … But the ball drops to Bernardo Silva in the penalty area, who finishes unfussily, tucking the ball in the corner via a deflection off Hoibraten.
Goal! 59 min: Urawa Reds 0-3 Manchester City (Bernardo Silva)Definitely game over.
Bernardo Silva of Manchester City scores his side’s third goal. Photograph: Lars Baron/FIFA/Getty Images55 min: Grealish has his marker on toast down the City left. He hangs up an excellent cross to the far post. Nunes is there to meet it, but his header lacks conviction, and accuracy, and everything you could want from a header, really. It squirts out beyond the far post. It should be 3-0 and game over, if it isn’t already. Nunes was in the six-yard box with the goal at his mercy.
Goal! 52 min: Urawa Reds 0-2 Manchester City (Kovacic)Walker advances from the right-back position, angling his run towards the centre of the pitch, and promptly stabs a sensational low through-ball between the opposing centre-backs, which Kovacic is able to run on to into space. The former Chelsea man is one-on-one in the penalty area, and coolly picks his spot, fairly smashing a very controlled finish into the roof of the net over the right shoulder of the helpless Nishikawa.
Mateo Kovacic of Manchester City scores a goal to make it 2-0. Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images50 min: City pick up where they left off, pressing high up the pitch, with the added detail of actually having the ball at their disposal. Classic Pep vibes. Rodri looks for Bernardo Silva with an angled ball but it’s overhit.
49 min: “Dreams come true, yeah they do, in Santa Fe!,” emails Harriet Osborn.
Sante Fe!Can you imagine the collective disgust across Sante Fe when that own-goal went in, though?
46 min: A little early scare for City, Kante popping up with the ball in the area, with the time to swivel and shoot from the around the penalty spot. A City boot gets in the way, though.
Second half kick off!Allez.
Michael Butler has also written today’s Football Daily! Have a read.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE:
Football news, a dash of “Top 100 male footballers in the world 2023”, and a Manchester City feature by Will Unwin for half-time reading:
If you like all this sort of thing, why not support the Guardian?
Half-time: Urawa Reds 0-1 Manchester CityAn excellent defensive display from the Asian champions – and they so nearly made it to half time level – but Hoibraten’s OG is the difference at half time. City have been dominant, and deserve their lead.
Nunes sneaks in on the right flank for City courtesy of a slide-rule pass by Bernardo Silva. He squares the ball to no one in particular, and at the near post Hoibraten unwisely stabs at the ball in trying to intercept, or clear. There is plenty of pace on the ball and the Norwegian defender succeeds only in diverting the ball into the net. Nishikawa is unlucky: he’s been exceptional in the first half, and it took an unfortunate own-goal to beat him.
Goal! 45min +1: Urawa Reds 0-1 Manchester City (Hoibraten OG)There it is!
Manchester City players celebrate after Marius Hoibraten of Urawa Red (not pictured) scores an own goal. Photograph: Tullio Puglia/FIFA/Getty Images44 min: Now Grealish is nearly in on the left for City. Again, there are Urawa bodies in the way and a goal kick is the result.
43 min: Kante, the willing lone runner up front for Urawa Reds, makes a dart looking for a long ball but City snuff out the danger.
42 min: “Got it streaming on the phone!,” emails Richard Short, from the U.S. of A.
“I’m sure everyone else in New Mexico will be as grateful as I am for that info, Yngve! Santa Fe is pretty much at a standstill tuning in to this Red Diamond rearguard.”
Dancing in the streets of Sante Fe. Potentially.
40 min: An email titled “Fluminense fan here”, from Ian Cook:
“I’ve been a fan of the Guardian’s minute-by-minute match reports since the 2002 World Cup (yes, those times when finding some obscure website streaming the game to watch while at work were not a possibility!). Looking forward to the first ever MBM coverage of my beloved Fluminense – hope the Guardian will provide us with such a treat even if City does not make it to the final!”
Thanks Ian. Yes, there will a final MBM.
37 min: Guardiola is pictured clapping enthusiastically, urging his players on. They’ve not been terrible but they certainly don’t look to be in top gear. Haaland is now pictured in close-up on the big screens in the stadium and there is a big cheer from the crowd. Then it’s De Bruyne’s turn. Another big cheer. Out on the pitch, Nishikawa makes another save from Nunes. The score is nil-nil.