Phil Foden scored the quickest goal of the FIFA Club World Cup so far before Jeremy Doku gave Manchester City a 2-0 win against Wydad AC in Philadelphia.
Foden pounced when Wydad goalkeeper El Mehdi Benabid patted Savinho's cross down near the six-yard box inside two minutes at Lincoln Financial Field.
Doku was involved in the opener with a surging run down the left and he was on hand to volley home Foden's right-wing corner at the far post three minutes before halftime.
In between those goals, City didn't have everything their own way. A mistake by teenage centre-back Vitor Reis let in Thembinkosi Lorch after the half-hour, but the Wydad winger could not capitalise before Ederson saved smartly from Cassius Mailula.
Doku almost struck again during a less-eventful second half — a description that applied at least until Rico Lewis was shown a straight red card for catching Samuel Obeng in the face on his follow-through. Lewis won the initial challenge cleanly but the painful contact afterwards meant the VAR decided not to give him a reprieve.
City are back in action against Al Ahly next week in Group G, while Wydad will take on Juventus.
Goals and highlights | Player ratings | Full match stats
Man City vs. Wydad AC score
| Fulltime | Goalscorers | |
| Man City | 2 | Foden '2, Doku '42, |
| Wydad AC | 0 | — |
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
Referee: Ramon Abatti (Brazil)
Starting lineups:
Man City (4-3-3 right to left): 31. Ederson (GK) — 82. Rico Lewis, 22. Vitor Reis, 6. Nathan Ake, 75. Nico O'Reilly — 47. Phil Foden, 4. Tiijani Reijnders, 29. Rayan Cherki — 26. Savinho, 7. Omar Marmoush 11. Jeremy Doku
Wydad AC (5-4-1, right to left): 12. El Mehdi Benabid (GK) — 18. Fahd Moufi, 14. Abdelmounaim Boutouil, 72. Guilherme Ferreira, 22. Bart Meijers, 2. Mohamed Moufid — 11. Nordin Amrabat, 19. El Mehdi El Moubarik, 23. Oussama Zemraoui, 4. Thembinkosi Lorch — 21. Cassius Mailula
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Man City vs. Wydad AC player ratings
Man City starters
Goalkeeper: Ederson — 7
Wouldn't have anticipated having too much work to do but made a sharp stop to deny Mailula an equaliser. Sharp as usual when tasked with starting attacks and snuffing out long balls over the top.
Right-back: Rico Lewis — 6
Charged with tucking in alongside Reijnders to add some extra protection behind a plethora of attacking midfielders. Looked exposed to Wydad's raiding attacks down the flanks. Moved centrally in possession after halftime, he set up a chance for Erling Haaland with a wonderful, shuffling run, but the late red card means we will not see the 20-year-old again until the knockout stages.
Centre-back: Vitor Reis — 5
Some nervy moments in and out of possession on his first start since facing Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup on March 1. A dreadful error should have resulted in Lorch equalising for Wydad. A pleasingly incident-free second half.
Centre-back: Nathan Ake — 8
The senior man in an otherwise inexperienced defence. Made an important block to deny Nordin Amrabat and went close at the other end with a header. Could be a beneficiary of City's sharpened set-piece threat.
Left-back: Nico O'Reilly — 6
Like fellow youth-team graduate Lewis on the other side of the back four, he was uncertain at times. Moved more centrally in possession after the cooling break to help mitigate Wydad's counter-attacking threat. Lewis did that job after halftime, when O'Reilly put in an improved showing.
Midfielder: Phil Foden — 8
Took his goal smartly and it was good to see the smile back on his face after a difficult few months. Interesting to see him operating closer to Reijnders and behind Marmoush early on, the sort of playmaking midfield role in which Guardiola has previously been reluctant to use the 25-year-old. Should have made it 2-0, but atoned for that miss with a fine set-piece delivery to set up Doku.
Midfielder: Tijjani Reijnders — 8
An effortlessly smooth debut, looking like the archetypal Guardiola midfielder, controlling the tempo and frequently looking for penetrative forward passes. As expected, some work to be done out of possession, but had some pleasing bite in the tackle. Moved into a more attacking role after Rodri's introduction.
Midfielder: Rayan Cherki — 6
A mixed bag. Some dazzling flashy touches mixed in with more clumsy works and misplaced passes. Might have had an assist for Foden before the interval. There's plenty of focus on the France youngster's work off the ball, but he made a sharp interception high up the field from which Doku should have doubled his personal tally.
Right winger: Savinho — 6
Played his part in the opening goal and was persistent as usual. Promising flashes of an understanding with Cherki.
Striker: Omar Marmoush — 6
A couple of shots fired just wide. Understandably not afraid to have a go after his goal-of-the-season effort against Bournemouth last month. Varied movements kept a well-stocked Wydad defence on their toes, but ultimately a forgettable outing.
Left winger: Jeremy Doku — 8
Darting run down the left wing set the opening goal in motion. It was intriguing to see him switch positions with Marmoush and play centre-forward midway through the first half and he showed a striker's instincts to volley home Foden's corner at the back post. Nearly scored a second after halftime and it was notable how City's threat and intensity dropped in the period after the Belgium winger was substituted.
Man City substitutes
Erling Haaland (Cherki '60) — 5
Fired a snapshot over following fine work from Lewis. Stoppage time one-versus-one attempt lacked conviction.
Rodri (Foden '60) — 5
Evident rust from the Ballon d'Or winner as he misplaced several routine passes.
Oscar Bobb (Doku '60) — 5
Didn't manage to get into the game.
Ilkay Gundogan (Marmoush '68) — 6
Typically neat and tidy as City closed out the win.
Matheus Nunes (Savinho) — too late to mark
Slotted in at right-back after Lewis' red card.
Man City vs. Wydad AC stats
| Man City | Stat | Wydad AC |
| 14 | Shots | 9 |
| 6 | Shots on target | 2 |
| 68% | Possession | 32% |
| 619 | Passes | 285 |
| 9 | Corners | 4 |
| 10 | Fouls | 10 |
| 0 | Yellow cards | 1 |
| 1 | Red cards | 0 |
Man City vs. Wydad AC highlights: Goals, key events
88 mins: RED CARD! RICO LEWIS IS SENT OFF!
City had to play out the closing moments with 10 men after Lewis was shown a straight red card. The young full-back was unfortunate as he won the ball in a sliding tackle but his boot crashed into Samuel Obeng's face. There was no malice but the referee deemed it to be dangerous play and VAR upheld the decision.
REF CAM RED CARD :red_circle:
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42 mins: GOAL! JEREMY DOKU
Foden turns provider from a right-wing corner and Doku escapes his marker to smuggle home a backpost volley. City's set-piece threat has been notably improved from last season during this first half.
41' ⚽ GOAL! Doku is free in the box to slot that corner kick in for @ManCity. The Blues are 2-0 up!
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31 mins: GREAT SAVE FROM EDERSON!
Wydad should be level after a woeful piece of defending from Reis but Ederson bails out his fellow Brazilian with fine stop to thwart Mailula
31' Ederson coming up clutch for @mancity, denying @WACofficiel a goal 🧤
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2 mins: GOAL! PHIL FODEN!
Just the start Guardiola will have wanted but Wydad's defending left plenty to be desired. First Doku was errantly played onside to scoot down the left wing. Foden worked Doku's cross to Savinho, whose ball back into the box was patted down by Benabid to leave Foden with a simple finish.
1' GOAL! Foden opens the score under 2 minutes of gameplay! 🔥
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Lineups: Guardiola has handed debuts to Rayan Cherki and Tiijani Reijnders, who each start in an attacking City line-up. Omar Marmoush leads the attack with Erling Haaland on the bench alongside Bernardo Silva, who was confirmed as club captain for the 2025/26 season yesterday. Teenage centre-back Vitor Reis makes his first start since the FA Cup fifth-round match against Plymouth in March, although he and the returning Nathan Ake might not be overworked defensively by what looks like a 5-4-1 setup from Wydad.
Prematch: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' coverage of Manchester City's opening FIFA Club World Cup game against Wydad AC of Morocco. We'll be providing updates on all the key moments and ranking the performances of what could be a new-look lineup from Pep Guardiola.