Gundogan criticizes Man City performance despite big win over Al Ain

Ilkay Gundogan expressed criticism of Manchester City’s performance — despite their team’s commanding 6-0 victory over Al Ain.

Pep Guardiola’s squad needed a 7-0 win to ensure that a single point against Juventus in Orlando would be sufficient to top their group in the Club World Cup.

City managed to score six goals through two from Gundogan, and one each from Claudio Echeverri, Rayan Cherki, Oscar Bobb, and a penalty from Erling Haaland.

“We needed that seventh goal at the end. We set that as our target at half time, but unfortunately we didn’t start the second half good enough and were too slow — it cost us in the end,” said Gundogan.

Despite securing advancement to the round of 16, the 34-year-old midfielder acknowledged there were brief periods where the team lacked precision in passing and playing style — something that needs improvement at the highest level.

Regarding his future, Gundogan emphasized he has one year remaining on his contract and feels happy at City. He believes he can continue playing at the highest level for several more years by maintaining his physical condition.