Man City 2 Wydad 0: Contrasting debuts for Reijnders and Cherki as Foden signals a return to form

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Manchester City began their FIFA Club World Cup with a 2-0 victory against Wydad Casablanca in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

In a tournament as young as the new-look Club World Cup it’s not difficult to set records, and that’s what Phil Foden duly did — scoring after only one minute and 51 seconds to give his team a landmark lead. But the Moroccan side settled well after that setback, creating several opportunities and taking advantage of some unconvincing defending from Vitor Reis.

City were two up at half-time, though, a Jeremy Doku finish from a Foden set piece doubling their advantage.

Ref Cam: the best view in the house 📹⚽️

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And Pep Guardiola’s side — which featured new signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki in the starting XI — comfortably saw out the second half, with Erling Haaland and Rodri among the players brought on from the bench. A late — and slightly harsh — red card for Rico Lewis proving the only negative for City.

Jordan Campbell, Daniel Taylor, Sam Lee and Larry Henry analyse the main talking points from the game.

How did Reijnders and Cherki get on?

There is something very appealing about Rayan Cherki. The maverick playmaker says he is a throwback, one who laments risk-averse football, and the prospect of him lighting up City’s attacks with the kind of imagination he has shown at Lyon is mouthwatering — ignore the popular opinion that Guardiola kills creativity and consider how Kevin De Bruyne was able to thrive so spectacularly for nine years under the Catalan.

There is little wonder that his signing has excited City supporters, who have been inspired by everything to do with his transfer, from the initial speculation to his initiation rap.

This was, though, a bit of a damp squib debut, as he lost the ball on a few occasions as he tried to find his role in a very fluid attack alongside Foden and Omar Marmoush, with Doku and Savinho on the wings.

That was in stark contrast to Reijnders, who has always looked more like a ‘typical’ Guardiola player — a technical midfielder who can help a team move through the gears smoothly — and the Dutchman was able to more accurately show his best attributes on his first City outing.

Him taking the ball off Ederson from a goal kick and running it up the pitch was just a taster of his abilities.

Reijnders impressed on his City debut (David Ramos/Getty Images)

Sam Lee

Did Rico Lewis deserve to be sent off?

As Lewis got back to his feet, his arms were outstretched and it was a look of incredulity on his face. And you didn’t need to be a professional lip-reader to know what he was asking. “How?” over and again.

His team-mates were also aggrieved by the late red-card decision that slightly tarnished City’s victory. Lewis had won the ball in his challenge with Samuel Obeng. The problem was the follow-through and the fact his studs caught his opponent in the face.

It was an accidental collision and television replays showed the Wydad player had gone in just as hard to win the ball. Yet the referee’s decision was upheld by the VAR checks because, put bluntly, how often do you see one player kicking another in the face?

Ref Cam captured THAT Rico Lewis tackle 🤯

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“What else could he do?” will be the response of Lewis’ sympathisers. Guardiola, in particular, looked unimpressed. And City may have a point, bearing in mind it was just the player’s momentum that made it happen.

Equally, the decision was never likely to be overturned when the referee could cite the player was out of control.

Obeng was caught in the face by Lewis (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Daniel Taylor

Is this the start of a Phil Foden resurgence?

If Manchester City are to re-establish themselves as England’s leading team, it feels vital that Foden can overcome the troubles he experienced in the Premier League last season.

On that basis, Guardiola must be encouraged by the way the England international has started the Club World Cup, which included him getting the opening goal in their victory over Wydad.

Yes, too much can be read into one fixture. This is just the start of a long summer for City and, of course, there will be bigger assignments to come. Foden, nonetheless, looked sharp and alert and, as well as scoring inside the first two minutes, he also took the corner that led to Doku’s goal.

Foden has talked recently about playing with injuries and how his deterioration in form was, in part, because of how it affected him mentally. This was his first goal in his last 20 games and a reminder, perhaps, about why he remains so important to Guardiola’s plans.

Foden scored an early goal (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

Daniel Taylor

Did we glimpse a new era of City set pieces?

The prominence of the set-piece coach reached new levels when it seemingly became compulsory for them to appear on the edge of the technical area at every corner kick.

Guardiola had become used to Carlos Vicens being alongside him the past four years but, after he left to take up his first managerial post in Portugal with SC Braga, ex-Liverpool analyst James French is the new dead-ball specialist.

He made an impressive start in Philadelphia as City were a constant threat and scored their second goal of the game from a well-worked routine.

Despite some aggressive manhandling from Wydad, City’s movements and blocks were able to isolate two City players at the back post against just one defender. Phil Foden’s inswinging delivery was on the money and Doku was able to poke a volley home.

Doku scored after a clever corner-kick routine (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

French was visibly pleased to have seen his work pay off as he punched the air and high-fived a row of colleagues on the bench. There was even a warm embrace from Guardiola, who patted him on the face and seemed to share a joke with him.

There was a lot of variety to City’s deliveries rather than one consistent targeted area. Some were outswingers and some were inswingers with the intended recipient not always the strongest header of the ball.

It marked a change in direction from City in an area of the game that Guardiola didn’t use to place a huge emphasis on. That has clearly changed.

Jordan Campbell

Were Wydad better than expected?

If there were fears that this could be an extreme mismatch with Wydad finishing third in the Moroccan league, 16 points off leaders RS Berkane, then City scoring after 111 seconds did not help matters.

But rather than crumble, Wydad put in a very competitive display and were very unfortunate not to have at least one goal to show for their efforts.

City dominated possession as expected but Wydad were able to cause them a lot of problems by attacking quickly and playing crossfield balls to exploit City’s high line.

They breached the back four on a number of occasions in the first half but their decision-making let them down. Reis looked uncomfortable defending such large spaces at times but Wydad’s forwards repeatedly looked for an extra pass or tried to cut back inside instead of shooting.

Wydad caused City a number of problems (David Ramos/Getty Images)

Their best chance came after a Reis mistake, which presented a clear scoring opportunity inside the penalty area but Ederson was able to save with his feet.

Wydad’s back five defended in a low block and generally did well to block space. They continued to counter City in the second half but they looked fatigued by the time they reached the box. Who can blame them? This is a major step up in level but they did not look overawed.

It was a valiant display and one that will make Juventus take notice.

Jordan Campbell

What was the atmosphere like?

The first day match of Philadelphia’s FIFA Club World Cup involvement proved to be a major success.

A total of 37,446 packed Lincoln Financial Field, a slightly higher attendance than Monday evening’s Flamengo-Esperance showdown.

Both sets of fans made themselves heard throughout the match, with Manchester City receiving more of a fan turnout than Wydad. Former City players Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joleon Lescott were among the Tuesday festivities, while plenty of young fans got to see many of their current heroes as part of summer vacation.

When your idols are finally here 🤩🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/UiDSZ1a7q4

— Manchester City US (@ManCityUS) June 18, 2025

The travelling Wydad support may have been smaller in size on the day, but it didn’t dampen their spirit. Even with their club down 2-0 late in the second half, Wydad supporters set flares off in the stands and plenty of red-and-white smoke eventually filled up at least one half of the stadium.

Wydad supporters were in full voice (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

City will bid farewell to Philadelphia and head south for their two remaining group stage matches against Al Ain and Juventus.

Wydad, meanwhile, now prepare for a tough match against Juventus on Sunday, June 22, knowing defeat could end their slim knockout stage chances.

Larry Henry

You can sign up to DAZN to watch every FIFA Club World Cup game for free

(Top photo: Getty Images)

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