Guardiola hails new signings, as Man City off to winning start

PHILADELPHIA — Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola hailed the impact of the new signings who came straight into the team for the 2-0 win over Wydad Casablanca in their opening match at the Club World Cup on Wednesday.

Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and France attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki both started the game on a hot afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, after joining City from AC Milan and Lyon, respectively, in the tournament run-up.

"He is a really, really good player. You feel it, you smell it. The pace, in the final third, with the ball, when he will get a little bit more rhythm, he will be top," Guardiola said of Reijnders, 26, who played the whole game in sapping conditions.

Brought in to help fill the huge void left by the departure of Kevin De Bruyne, the 21-year-old Cherki lasted an hour before being substituted, as City eased to victory in the Group G contest thanks to first-half goals by Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku.

"Of course, Kevin is difficult to replace, we know that, for the quality that he has," Guardiola said.

"There is no doubt about that, but, at the same time, the club decided on Rayan because he has incredible skills close to the box, incredible vision, many things.

"This was just the first game, in really tough conditions, and I am really pleased he is here."

There was an experimental look to the City lineup against the Moroccan side, with young Brazilian defender Vitor Reis starting for just the third time since signing in January, while Nathan Ake made a first appearance for his club since late February.

Foden ready to 'go again'

The five most-used outfield players for City over the course of the last campaign — Josko Gvardiol, Bernardo Silva, Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias and Ilkay Gundogan — were all on the bench at kick-off.

New signing Rayan Ait-Nouri was an unused substitute, but Guardiola suggested that he will change almost his entire team to face Al-Ain in Atlanta on Sunday.

"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," Guardiola said.

"The next game, 10 new players (are) going to be there, and we will try to win the next one."

City will be without Rico Lewis due to suspension for the clash with Al-Ain, after he was sent off late on against Wydad.

If that was a source of frustration for the coach, Foden's performance was encouraging, as the England star scored the first goal and made the second.

"Obviously, last season wasn't the best for me, so, I put it in my head to start this season strong, and I am happy today that I managed to score and get an assist and help the team win," said Foden.

"Last season was a bit rough for all of us, but it is about trying to go again this season, with the new signings to help us, and trying to win trophies again."

AFP