Pep Guardiola hails new signings as Man City survive ‘tough conditions’ against Wydad Casablanca
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Manchester City's Rico Lewis (left) reacts after being shown a red card on June 18.
PHOTO: REUTERS
PHILADELPHIA – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hailed the impact of the new signings who came straight into the team for the 2-0 win over Wydad Casablanca in their opening match at the Club World Cup on June 18.
Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and France attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki both started the Group G game on a hot afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia after joining in the run-up to the tournament from AC Milan and Lyon respectively.
“He is a really, really good player. You feel it, you smell it. The pace, in the final third, with the ball, when he will get a little bit more rhythm, he will be top,” Guardiola said of Reijnders, 26.
Brought in to help fill the huge void left by Kevin de Bruyne’s departure, the 21-year-old Cherki lasted an hour before being substituted as City eased to victory in the Group G contest, thanks to first-half goals by Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku.
“Of course, Kevin is difficult to replace, we know that, for the quality that he has,” Guardiola added.
“There is no doubt about that but at the same time, the club decided on Rayan because he has incredible skills close to the box, incredible vision, many things.
“This was just the first game, in really tough conditions and I am really pleased he is here.”
There was an experimental look to the City line-up against the Moroccan side, with young Brazilian defender Vitor Reis starting for just the third time since signing in January, while Nathan Ake made a first appearance for his club since late February.
The five most-used outfield players for City over the course of the last campaign – Josko Gvardiol, Bernardo Silva, Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias and Ilkay Gundogan – were all on the bench at kick-off.
Another new signing Rayan Ait-Nouri was an unused substitute, but Guardiola suggested that he will change almost his entire team for the next game, against Al Ain in Atlanta on June 22.
“We had new players, players playing in different positions. Vitor Reis played a really good game, Nathan Ake was three, four or five months without playing, so many players we needed to give them minutes,” he said.
“The next game, 10 new players (are) going to be there and we will try to win the next one.”
City will be without Rico Lewis for the clash with Al Ain due to suspension after he was sent off late on against Wydad.
In another match, Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceicao both scored twice as Juventus made a statement with a dominant 5-0 win over Emirati club Al Ain.
Kolo Muani grabbed both of his goals in the first half, Conceicao scored either side of the break, while Turkey forward Kenan Yildiz also found the net. AFP, REUTERS
