Neither Haaland nor Alvarez, Man City's best striker was an opposing player

Manchester City did what they had to do. On Tuesday they made their Club World Cup debut knowing they needed a win against Urawa Red Diamonds in Saudi Arabia to advance to the final of the tournament and face Fluminense of Brazil next Friday. Any other result would be seen by fans and the press as a failure, and they could not afford to slip up.

That is why coach Pep Guardiola decided to include most of the squad's stars in the starting lineup. Some exceptions were Ruben Dias and Julian Alvarez, who were on the bench, as well as Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, who are injured and therefore could not be on the pitch. However, they traveled to Asia with their teammates and were captured on several occasions by TV cameras sitting in the stands.

Without their star striker, the Spanish manager made an unexpected decision for this match: he did not use Julian Alvarez as his replacement, but played without center-forward, with Phil Foden or Matheus Nunes being at times 'false 9'. And, with this scenario, he found the least expected solution thanks to an unwitting protagonist: Marius Høibråten.

The Urawa Red Diamonds defender was key to the Citizens' victory. Near the end of the first half, he tried to deny a drilled cross and scored an own goal that made things easier for the English side. In the second half they controlled the ball very calmly and doubled the lead through Mateo Kovacic, who received a great assist from Kyle Walker. And a few minutes later, Høibråten helped them again, when Bernardo Silva's shot deflected off him and made it impossible for goalkeeper Nishikawa to react.

What's next?

There are now only two more matches left in the 2023 Club World Cup. Urawa Red Diamonds will face Al-Ahly of Egypt for third place, while the title final between Manchester City and Fluminense will be played on Friday. For both teams, it will be their first-ever opportunity to become world champions.