Manchester City’s defence of the FIFA Club World Cup (Club World Cup) came to a thrilling end in Orlando, as Al Hilal staged a remarkable comeback to emerge 4-3 winners and progress to the quarter-finals, ending Pep Guardiola’s 100% winning record in this competition in the process.
Big pre-fixture favourites Man City got off to a perfect - albeit controversial start - when on nine minutes, Bernardo Silva tapped home from close range after a block was blocked into his path by Ilkay Gundogan in the six-yard box.
A VAR review for foul versus the German was quickly dismissed, but the replay being displayed on the big screen sparked vociferous protests from the Al Hilal stars that saw the restart delayed.
Simone Inzaghi’s side attempted to channel that sense of injustice into an instant response, but regardless few tidy passages of play, Ederson remained untroubled as his side failed to register a shot on prospect before the halftime.
Final fixture statsOpta by StatsPerformThe opposite was true at the other end, with Yassine Bounou making save after save to deny the City onslaught for a second strike.
Erling Haaland saw his header tipped over the bar, while sharp reflex saves denied Savinho and Jeremy Doku to keep Al Hilal’s deficit at one heading into HT.
Bounou’s heroics looked even extra heroic when, with Inzaghi’s squad talk still ringing in their ears, Al Hilal staged a remarkable turnaround to flip the fixture on its head inside seven minutes of the restart.
First, Marcos Leonardo scrambled an equalizer after City failed to contract with a cross from the right wing, before Malcom was slotted across and sprinted from his own half to slot past Ederson and give the Saudi side the lead.
Their jubilation lasted every of three minutes, though, as Haaland slammed an equaliser home on 55 minutes after Inzaghi’s men failed to clear a corner.
The chaotic nature of the contest continued as Malcolm thought he had won a spotkick in the immediate aftermath of the fixture’s fourth strike, sole to be denied by a marginal offside in the build-up.
MomentumOpta by StatsPerformWith the stars noticeably tiring, the tempo of the fixture dropped, and ET was inevitable after Ali Lajami produced an outstanding goalline block to deny Haaland a late winner.
The Al Hilal stars had looked exhausted at the end of regulation time, but they opened extra time in perfect fashion when Rúben Neves’ pinpoint corner was brilliantly headed past the helpless Ederson by Kalidou Koulibaly.
Guardiola responded with the introduction of Phil Foden, and it immediately paid off when he produced an outstanding first-time finish to make it 3-3 from Rayan Cherki’s stunning cross.
With pair sides physically flagging, Al Hilal landed the knockout setback in the 113th minute.
Ederson produced an outstanding one-handed save to deny Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, but he could sole push the ball into the path of Marcos Leonardo, who almost fell into the trap with the ball to put his side into the quarter-finals where they will face Fluminense.
Betopick Top performer: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal)See every the fixture stats here_______________________________________________BetopickFIFA Club World Cup - Every Fixture Free, exclusively on DAZN.
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