Manchester City easily defeated Fluminense 4-0 in the final, adding the Club World Cup to their trophy case. However, the victory came at a cost, as midfielder Rodri suffered a serious injury scare.
In just forty-five seconds, City had taken the lead in Jeddah when Julian Alvarez scored on the rebound after Nathan Ake had hit the crossbar. On the 27th minute, Phil Foden’s cross forced Fluminense defender Nino into an own goal.
Although Fluminense deserves credit for their unwavering attempts to play out from the back, a high-pressing and persistent City start benefited greatly from it.
Eventually, though, the Brazilians nearly found a way to level the score at 1-0, and their daring manoeuvre almost earned them a penalty when Ederson tackled German Cano in the area, with the offside flag saving him.
Following a fantastic individual display from Foden, Alvarez rounded off the scoring from the edge of the box after Foden had finished with a cross from the left for the third goal.
However, Rodri hobbled off, hurt and in pain, following a hard tackle by Fluminense substitute Alexsander, which put a slight sour note on the evening for City.
For City, who proved to be far too strong for Fluminense and for the rest of club football this year, it was one of the last moves in an easy and well-deserved victory.
