Socceroos shine in EFL Cup amid penalty drama, set sail for World Cup Final

Manchester City eased into the final of the Club World Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win over Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds. Without Erling Haaland, the Champions League winners needed an own goal to launch their campaign in Saudi Arabia but second-half strikes from Mateo Kovavic and Bernardo Silva saw them stroll to victory on Tuesday. Having added the European Super Cup to last season’s treble, City will now have the chance to claim a fifth trophy of the calendar year when they face Brazil’s Fluminense in Friday’s final in Jeddah.City manager Pep Guardiola said, “This is the last step – a title the club doesn’t have, so we’ll go for it.”With Urawa showing limited ambition against City’s formidable line-up, the only surprise was the game remained goalless until first-half added time. Rodri, Matheus Nunes, Silva and Phil Foden had opportunities denied before Norwegian defender Marius Hoibraten’s own goal broke the deadlock.Kovacic added the second after 52 minutes, and Silva secured the win with help from a deflection. City was in control throughout, and even though Urawa had a couple of late opportunities, they couldn’t change the outcome. Chelsea have also booked their passage to the semi-final of the English League Cup on penalties after Mykhailo Mudryk’s added-time equalizer rescued a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge.Our objective before the game was to go through and now we’re in the semi-final,” said Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino. Fulham captain Tosin Adarabioyo scored the winning penalty in their shootout win against Everton which put the club into their first League Cup semi. Middlesbrough breezed past League One Port Vale 3-0 to book their place in the final four. Liverpool was set to host West Ham at Anfield in the final quarter-final.