Manchester City secured a 2-0 victory against Moroccan side Wydad AC in their first match of the Club World Cup on June 18 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Pep Guardiola added four new faces to his squad ahead of the competition, which includes Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, and Marcus Bettinelli.
Man City found the back of the net twice against Wydad, courtesy of Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku, while Rico Lewis had to leave the pitch in the 88th minute after receiving a red card.
The match also saw two of their new signings, Cherki and Reijnders, make their debut for Man City. Both stars started the match, with the Dutch midfielder playing for the full 90 minutes, while the Frenchman was substituted for Erling Haaland in the 60th minute.
Ait-Nouri, meanwhile, was named on the bench and was not brought on to make his debut for Man City in the match, prompting questions as to why. Following the win, Guardiola explained his decision to keep the Algeria international as an unused substitute.
What did Man City boss Pep Guardiola say?
Ait-Nouri arrived at the Etihad from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a five-year contract valid until the summer of 2030 for a reported initial fee of £31.2 million, with bonuses taking the total deal up to £36.3 million.
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While most expected that the Club World Cup opening match for Man City would also be his debut game, Guardiola explained that he has several new players, along with existing ones, some of whom needed minutes on the pitch.
The Catalan manager then revealed (comments via NDTV Sports) his plans of rotating his players in the next Club World Cup match, hinting that it could be Ait-Nouri’s possible debut.
“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. The next game 10 new players (are) going to be there and we will try to win the next one,” said Guardiola.
Man City are pitted against Al Ain in their second clash of the Club World Cup on June 22, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in Atlanta, Georgia.
