Man City sweep past Urawa Reds to move Pep Guardiola a step closer to history

If Pep Guardiola covets the Fifa Club World Cup to “complete the circle” of trophies mined at Manchester City, then he is one match from making his Blue Moon a full one.

Tournament debutants, the Spaniard’s all-conquering side are hardly wet behind the ears, what with the treble not long since complete and the club perched as the dominant force in English football for much of the past six years.

A first Uefa Champions League, clinched in June, brought with it this inaugural Club World Cup, where City parachuted in at the semi-final stage in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night.

At a politely expectant King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Guardiola’s men met Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan, the reigning Asian champions, without arguably the two players everyone had come to see.

Kevin De Bruyne, a surprise participant in Monday training, and Erling Haaland, were not deemed fit enough for even a place on the bench.

How City could have done with them, initially at least. With Jack Grealish and Phil Foden stationed on opposite flanks, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes were supposedly to carry the thrust through the middle.

However, City struggled to break down their Urawa rivals. Rodri flashed a couple of shots wide from range, Silva curled over from the edge of the area, while Nunes did force a fine, point-blank save from Shusaku Nishikawa in the Urawa goal. Foden, too, tested Nishikawa, although the shot was more speculative than certain.

In fact, the biggest cheer of the opening 45 minutes came when Haaland, sitting on the bench but part of the non-matchday squad, was shown on the big screen, then De Bruyne. Both acknowledged the crowd with a smile and a wave. Haaland, as much a goal guarantor as you can get, looked to have caught the