Phil Foden scored within two minutes, paving the way for Manchester City’s 2-0 victory over Wydad Casablanca in their first match of the Club World Cup on Wednesday.
Jeremy Doku also found the net before halftime at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where most of the 37,446 attendees were cheering for City, although the Moroccan supporters made the most noise.
The match was slightly overshadowed for City as Rico Lewis received a red card for a reckless tackle late in the game, but Pep Guardiola expressed satisfaction with the team’s winning start.
City entered the Club World Cup eager to move on after a lacklustre season. They will face tougher challenges than the team that finished third in the Moroccan league. Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates will be up next before finishing Group G against Juventus.
Guardiola took this opportunity to experiment with the lineup, featuring new signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki making their debuts, while teenage defender Vitor Reis started for only the third time since his arrival in January.
“The first step is done, it is really important. Now we have recovery, we are going to train well in the next few days and then fresh legs for the next game to try to improve things,” Guardiola added.
This was always a considerable challenge for Wydad, whose coach Amine Benhachem was appointed just before the Club World Cup.
Their team reinforcements for the tournament included a Brazilian defender on loan from the Portuguese second division, a Dutch defender from the Bosnian league, and the 38-year-old Moroccan international Nordin Amrabat.
French star Cherki was used in a floating central position for City, close to Foden, who scored the opening goal in the second minute. Foden, who had limited playing time in the closing weeks of the Premier League season, was ideally positioned to tap in a rebound after goalkeeper El Mehdi Benabid deflected a Savinho cross into his path.
Wydad, having qualified as the recent CAF Champions League winners, did not back down and had opportunities to provide their passionate fans a reason to cheer.
