Key events
32 min: Post! Joško Gvardiol meets a Bernardo Silva corner with a header at the penalty spot, which bounces within the 6-yard box and hits the far post before being cleared.
28 min: Right off the ensuing restart, another chance for Man City! This time it’s Erling Haaland, who draws out the goalkeeper and tries a tough finish from an acute angle after rounding him, but the ball goes barely wide of the far post.
If things keep going like this, it could get ugly for Al Ain.
Goal! Manchester City 2-0 Al Ain (Etcheverri, 27)
Well, that was fantastic. Claudio Etcheverri puts in the perfect dipping effort up and over the wall to bean the Al Ain goalkeeper to the near post, and Man City is up 2-0. He made that look easy. I think it probably was not.
26 min: Foul by Al Ain and a freekick for Man City on the edge of the area. Great position. Let’s see who steps up to take it.
Reader Kurt gets in touch:
What is that song that is played after walkouts are finshed?
I believe the one you’re referring to is The Business, by Tiësto. This was also played after team intros at the Qatar World Cup in 2022, and I have to admit … it’s a banger.
18 min: A relief for City fans: Etcheverri will stay on, and seems to be moving around just fine now.
16 min: A bit of a worry as Claudio Etcheverri is down on the field and being attended to by Man City physios. Phil Foden and other subs have started warming up on the sideline
15 min: Chance! Al Ain have a great opportunity to even things up on the break but Chadli’s effort on goal is tipped wide of the far post by Ortega.
Goal! Man City 1-0 Al Ain (Gündogan, 9)
Well that was either brilliant or a complete accident. The ball came to Gündogan after a failed clearance after a corner. In space in the box, the German lofted a ball to the far post that seemed intended for Erling Haaland, but instead the Al Ain goalkeeper completely misread it and it nestled into the back of the net.
A weird goal, but a goal nonetheless. 1-0 City.
6 min: The match is going more or less as you might expect so far – Al Ain are bunkered in and Man City are dominating possession. Al Ain had one half-chance on the break but they were called for offside.
We are underway!
1 min: We have kicked off in Atlanta, with Man City in their white away kits and Al Ain in a color that suspiciously resembles City blue.
Reader Ken gets in touch…
I’m wondering how many disgruntled Brits, who say the Club World Cup means nothing, are staying up to watch this one. Still better than watching Scunthorpe on a rainy Friday night in the middle of January …
Hard to say, but for the record I’d genuinely love to have the full Scunthorpe experience at some point in my soccer-watching career.
Reader Kieran gets in touch:
I’m a fan of neither of these clubs. I am an Arsenal fan watching from the UK. In answer to your questions:
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(Why are you watching?) Boredom.
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(How are you staying awake?) I am running off nothing except the lights in my room and sheer dedication to the hatewatch.
The thought of what else I could be doing with my life has crossed my mind. But hey, it’s only Monday, right?
I must admit, the prospect of other teams’ fans watching this game never crossed my mind. The dedication required for this hatewatch could power a city (or a City?). Regardless, props to Kieran, whose Monday is now sure to be amazing.
He later turned the tables:
My question is, how are you staying awake?
A good question, and the answer is: somewhat easily! I’m based in New York, so this game is kicking off at a nice and comfortable (if still a little weirdly late) 9pm.
When it comes time for player intros, remember that we’ll be seeing arguably Fifa’s strangest new wrinkle added for this tournament: Individual “NBA-style” player intros.
The great Jonathan Wilson takes stock, writing that the individual walk-ons at Club World Cup underline Fifa’s failure to understand that football is a team sport.
How are you watching?
Today’s match kicks off at 2am UK time, and 5am in the UAE.
If you’re a fan of either of these teams and watching from their home locales, I gotta know:
1) Why?
2) How are you staying up / waking up?
Al Ain’s XI
Goalkeeper: Khalid Eisa
Defenders: Facundo Zabala, Amadou Niang, Ramy Rabia, Adis Jašić
Midfielders: Abdoul Traore, Yahia Nader, Yong-woo Park
Forwards: Mohammed Al Baloushi, Nassim Chadli, Soufiane Rahimi
Manchester City’s XI
As promised, Pep Guardiola has named a much-changed starting group for tonight’s game against Al Ain.
Goalkeeper: Stefan Ortega Moreno
Defenders: Manuel Akanji, Abdukodir Khusanov, Joško Gvardiol, Rayan Aït-Nouri
Midfielders: Nico, İlkay Gündoğan, Bernardo Silva
Wingers: Matheus Nunes, Claudio Echeverri
Striker: Erling Haaland
John Stones: ‘I want to stay’
Manchester City’s defensive stalwart has moved to shut down talk of a move away.
‘10 new players’ incoming
Pep Guardiola said he wouldn’t be shy to ring the changes for Man City ahead of their second game of the Club World Cup, telling reporters he’ll bring in an even 10 new players to the team after the tournament-opening 2-0 win over Wydad:
More from Jamie Jackson:
Preamble
Alex will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s what else has gone on today:
