International Sports Desk, June 18 (EFE).- Real Madrid drew against Al Hilal, Juventus thrashed Al Ain, RB Salzburg defeated Pachuca, and Manchester City beat Wydad in Wednesday’s FIFA Club World Cup matches in the United States.
Xabi Alonso’s new Real Madrid drew 1-1 against Al Hilal in Miami in their Club World Cup debut, following a performance lacking in pace and spark.
Youth player Gonzalo García, a starter in Xabi Alonso’s first team due to Kylian Mbappé being sidelined with a fever, put Real Madrid ahead in the first half, but a naive penalty conceded by Raúl Asencio led to Rubén Neves’ equalizer just before halftime, while the second half went scoreless.
In Washington, Juventus thrashed Al Ain 5-0. In their Group G debut, the Emirati team showed limited defensive resources and were key to the doubles from both Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceição, and another goal from Kenan Yildiz.
The Italian champions opened the scoring at minute 11 with a header from Kolo Muani and 10 minutes later Conceição pushed the ball inside the penalty box.
At the 31st minute, Yildiz scored, and four minutes into halftime stoppage, Kolo Muani took his second goal to take Juventus 4-0 up. After the break, Conceição scored from a center-field kick at minute 58.
Meanwhile, Austrian soccer giants RB Salzburg defeated Pachuca 1-2 in their Group H debut, in a Cincinnati match suspended for more than an hour.
The scoring opened in minute 42 with a strike from Salzburg’s Oscar Gloukh before severe weather delayed the game early in the second half for around 90 minutes.
At the resumption of play, the score was leveled by Pachuca’s Bryan Gonzalez’s 56th-minute free-kick, before substitute Karim Onisiwo shot in a 76th-minute header to lift RB Salzburg to victory.
Finally, the new Manchester City was back in action, beating Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca 2-0 in its Club World Cup debut.
Phil Foden struck as soon as the game started, putting City in an early lead two minutes into the match, while another goal from Jeremy Doku three minutes before halftime ended the scoring.
Rico Lewis was sent off in the 88th minute for a sliding tackle that caught a Wydad player in the face, and miss the match against Al-Ain. EFE
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