Man City book place in Club World Cup final against Fluminense

Manchester City strolled into the final of the FIFA Club World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, setting up a showdown with Brazilian team Fluminense on Friday.

The European champions forced an own goal from Marius Hoibraten at the end of the first half in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Mateo Kovavic scored his first Man City goal in the second half before Bernardo Silva added gloss to the scoreline.

City are looking to win the competition for the first time and become the first English club to win the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in the space of 12 months.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola can become the first manager to win the Club World Cup four times, and Kovacic can be the first player to win it with three different clubs, after his successes with Real Madrid and Chelsea.

How the match unfolded

Guardiola made four changes to the side that had drawn 2-2 with Crystal Palace on Saturday. In came John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Kovacic and Matheus Nunes, replacing Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Rico Lewis and Julian Alvarez.

Erling Haaland was missing from the squad for the third match in a row due to his foot injury, while Kevin De Bruyne was also absent despite returning to training.

With neither Haaland nor Alvarez in the line-up, City played without a striker. Jack Grealish and Phil Foden stayed wide on the flanks, while Silva, Kovacic and Nunes rotated into attacking positions in the middle.

See: Man City report and line-up

City took total control from the start, having 67 per cent of the possession in the first half while making 428 passes. While they initially struggled to create clear chances, they took the lead in the opening seconds of first-half stoppage time.

Nunes turned cleverly on the halfway line and exchanged passes with Silva to get in behind down the right side and deliver a low cross into the middle of the box, where Hoibraten slid towards his own goal and diverted the ball into the bottom-right corner.

City doubled their lead in the 53rd minute as Kovacic ran onto a brilliant through-ball, outpaced the defence and finished into the roof of the net.

Nunes missed a sitter three minutes later, heading wide three yards out, but it was 3-0 in the 59th minute as Silva’s shot deflected in off the unfortunate Hoibraten.

Guardiola promptly made a triple change, followed by other substitutions, to keep his side fresh for Friday's final at 18:00 GMT.

'This is the last step'

After the match, Guardiola told the club website: "To be in this final you have to do incredible things like win the Champions League.

"This may be the only time we play this in our lifetime. We are there. Tomorrow we start to watch Fluminense and see them and try to do a good performance.

"It’s the first time Manchester City are here. I represent this incredible organisation and club and now we play the final against Fluminense. This is the last step - a title the club doesn't have. So we’ll go for it."

How Premier League clubs have fared

This is the sixth time that a Premier League club is involved in the Club World Cup, and all six teams have reached the final.

Man City will be the fifth to face Brazilian opposition in the final, with the exception being Manchester United in 2008. All five previous finals featuring a Premier League club have been won by a single goal.

*after extra time