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Manchester City's First Goal In FIFA Club World Cup History Is An Own Goal

Manchester City's first goal in the history of the FIFA Club World Cup was an own goal scored by Urawa Red Diamonds defender Marius Hoibraten.

It arrived 46 minutes into City's semi-final against the champions of Asia on Tuesday at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

City had dominated the game in terms of possession and forced Shusaku Nishikawa into four saves before the Urawa keeper was finally beaten by one of his teammates.

Matheus Nunes played in a low cross from the right and a sliding Hoibraten inadvertently deflected the ball inside the near post.

Nishikawa had earlier kept out efforts from Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and two from Nunes.

Urawa Red Diamonds defender Marius Hoibraten pictured (bottom right) moments after scoring an own goal to put Manchester City 1-0 up in a FIFA Club World Cup semi-final in December 2023

Urawa Red Diamonds defender Marius Hoibraten pictured (bottom right) moments after scoring an own goal to put Manchester City 1-0 up in Tuesday's FIFA Club World Cup semi-final

City went on to win the game 3-0 after second-half goals from Mateo Kovacic and Silva.

Pep Guardiola's men will now face South American champions Fluminense in the final on Friday.

Brazil's Fluminense beat Al Ahly of Egypt 2-0 in their semi-final on Monday.

City had never previously competed at a Club World Cup.

However, the Manchester club will also be involved in the 2025 edition of the tournament, which will feature 32 teams instead of seven.