FC Porto, Al Ahly battle to 4-4 draw, end their runs at Club World Cup
Pepe fired in the 89th-minute equalizer for FC Porto to cap a wild 4-4 draw with Al Ahly in a Club World Cup match Monday in East Rutherford, N.J.
Wessam Abou Ali recorded a hat trick for Al Ahly and Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane backed up his teammate by scoring the Egyptian club's fourth goal of the night.
But FC Porto went punch for punch and drew level four separate times. With time dripping away, Pepe received a pass from Gabri Veiga and uncorked a right-footed shot from above the penalty arc that got past Al Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
Rodrigo Mora, William Gomes and Samu Aghehowa scored for FC Porto, and Claudio Ramos made six saves while dealing with Al Ahly's 12 shots on target.
The entertaining contest turned out to be the last of the tournament for both teams. Palmeiras rallied to a 2-2 tie with Inter Miami for both sides to finish Group A play with five points.
FC Porto (0-1-2, 2 points) and Al Ahly (0-1-2, 2 points) will head home without a victory in the tournament; Al Ahly will land in last place in the group based on goal differential.
Abou Ali opened his high-scoring night by rolling in a sharp-angle shot from the left of the 6-yard box, knocking it in off the post.
He gave Al Ahly a 2-1 halftime lead by depositing the spot kick into the bottom left corner of the goal. And just one minute after Gomes tied the match, Abou Ali scored his third goal on a header off Mohamed Hany's cross.
Aghehowa did not wait long to make it 3-3 on a header of his own, as he leapt and powered one in on a corner kick by Fabio Vieira.
Ben Romdhane broke through in the 64th with a right-footed blast from the top of the 18-yard box, assisted by Achraf Bencharki.
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