Saudi club Al Hilal stun Man City 4-3 to enter Club World Cup quarters
The match finished 2-2 at full-time on Monday, but at the end of an eventful extra – time Marcos Leonardo grabbed the winner and pulled off one of the greatest wins in Middle Eastern football history.
The Saudi club advance to the quarterfinals where they will face Brazilian club Fluminense, ensuring a non-European team will reach the last four.
City had taken the lead in the ninth minute in controversial fashion, Bernardo Silva finishing after Rayan Ait -Nouri's cross.
Al Hilal players protested Ait -Nouri had controlled with his arm in the build-up but the goal stood.
City had plenty of opportunities to extend their lead before the break but a combination of poor finishing and inspired goalkeeping from Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou kept the lead at a single goal.
Al Hilal offered several reminders of their threat on the break but City had even more chances with Jeremy Doku volleying straight at Bounou who moments later reacted superbly again to keep out a Bernardo effort.
The question as to whether City would live to regret not converting those chances was answered within a minute of the resumption.
Former City full-back Joao Cancelo's low cross was parried out by Ederson, Malcolm pounced but saw his shot blocked by Ruben Dias only for the ball to loop to Marcos Leonardo to head home the equaliser.
Six minutes later and the City's high defensive line was exposed by a long ball from Cancelo which Brazilian Malcolm raced on to and he showed power and pace as he broke away before coolly slotting past Ederson.
The Saudi fans in the crowd went wild while Pep Guardiola responded immediately with a triple substitution with midfielder Rodri and defenders Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji introduced.
That brought some much needed stability to a shaky back line but City needed improvement at the other end too and it came, albeit in scruffy circumstances.
The Al Hilal defence were unable to deal with a Bernardo corner and Erling Haaland pounced to steer home the loose ball and make it 2-2.
City piled on the pressure as they looked for the winner but yet again Bounou proved their nemesis as he denied Akanji and Ruben Dias and even when he was beaten by Haaland, substitute Ali Lajami produced a magnificent goal-line clearance.
Guardiola took off Haaland and introduced Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush as the game went into extra time.
But for all City's depth, Al Hilal had a deep well of spirit to draw upon and just four minutes into the opening period Al Hilal regained the lead when Kalidou Koulibaly rose superbly to meet a Ruben Neves corner with a brilliantly angled header.
City responded with a goal of real quality when Rayan Cherki's brilliantly floated ball towards the back post was poked home masterfully by Phil Foden, at full stretch and from the tightest of angles.
But incredibly Al Hilal responded again to restore their lead – Sergej Milinkovic-Savic 's header was saved by Ederson but Marcos Leonardo followed in to bundle the ball over the line.
As the celebrating Al Hilal fans poured out of the stadium, the Brazilian striker let his emotions pour out.
'I've had a difficult time in the last two months. My mother spent 70 days in the ICU,' he said.
'Today she's fine, thank God. When I scored those two goals, I thought of her. She was able to watch the match.'
City skipper Bernardo Silva said his team had paid the price for being unable to deal with Al Hilal's counter-attacking.
'We scored three and could've scored five, six. It was all about controlling when we lost the ball, controlling the transitions, don't let them run, and they ran way too many times,' he said.
'With one, two passes there was always a feeling of danger coming from them. When we allow teams to run like this we always suffer a lot, and today was the case,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
'Climbing Everest': How Al Hilal's win over Man City at CWC was a milestone
Riyadh-based club Al Hilal and the Saudi Pro League (SPL) have made a habit of making international headlines in recent years, but almost exclusively it's been for off-field matters involving money and player transfers. Whether it was Brazilian superstar Neymar's 90-million-euro ($98m) blockbuster signing in 2023 and subsequent departure 17 months later after playing just seven games, or their unsuccessful attempts to lure other big names like Mohamed Salah and Victor Osimhen, the club and league are never far from the headlines at this time of year as the summer transfer window kicks into gear. And now, once again, the whole world is talking about Al Hilal – but for an entirely different reason. For once, they're talking about the football because Al Hilal has only gone and defeated Manchester City – a star-studded side that has won four of the past five English Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League title two year ago – in the Round of 16 at the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) in the United States. As far as world football's elite clubs go, Pep Guardiola's side sit right near the very top. But on this night in Orlando, now etched in Saudi football folklore, they were no match for Al Hilal; the thrilling, see-sawing encounter ending 4-3 after a simply remarkable 120 minutes of football that heralded the arrival of Middle East club football onto a global stage. Al Hilal's historic victory makes them the first Asian side to beat a European side in a FIFA tournament. Al Hilal's coach, Simone Inzaghi, who only joined the club a few weeks after guiding Inter Milan to the UEFA Champions League final in May, likened the challenge to climbing the world's tallest mountain. 'The key to this result was the players, and the heart they put on the pitch tonight,' the 49-year-old Italian said. 'We had to do something extraordinary because we all know Manchester City, that team. We had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and we made it.' Heroes across the park Towards the end of the game, the Everest metaphor was apt because Al Hilal's stars were completely exhausted; the hot and humid weather conditions, along with the enormity of the occasion, conspiring to sap almost every last ounce out of their being. But they simply refused to give in or give up. Despite conceding three goals to City, goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was a brick wall between the sticks, making numerous heroic saves to keep Al Hilal in the contest during the first half. Striker Marcos Leonardo could barely walk by the end of the game, but his iconic celebration of what proved to be the match-winning goal will be remembered by Al Hilal fans for a long time to come. Key midfielders Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic may as well have worn gladiator armour, such was their fight and determination, while unheralded Saudi players such as Nasser al-Dawsari and Moteb al-Harbi made a name for themselves on the sport's biggest stage. 'All the players were exceptional in everything, in the possession phase, the non-possession phase,' Inzaghi continued. 'It is barely three weeks that we are together and you can see the level of application, they really put the effort in. As a coach clearly that is very satisfying. 'The lads delivered that performance, they have reached the quarterfinals.' A milestone in Saudi Arabian football Pre-match, few pundits gave Al Hilal more than a puncher's chance of victory against the defending CWC champion Manchester City, who had a perfect 3-from-3 winning record in the group stage. City, a super team known around the world, had multiple opportunities to win the match but failed to capitalise at key points late in the contest. Their stunning defeat to Al Hilal will likely be the subject of post-tournament revisionism that attempts to downplay the importance of the CWC to mega clubs at the end of a gruelling, 10-month 2024-25 campaign. But what of Al Hilal? They, too, were at the end of a long, and ultimately unsuccessful campaign, finishing second in the SPL behind Al Ittihad and falling at the semifinal stage of the AFC Champions League Elite. Like their City counterparts, when you include international football, many of Al Hilal's stars had played more than 50 games this season and faced three taxing CWC fixtures in the intense heat of an US summer. But they also came into this game devoid of three of their regular starting XI, including two of their most important attacking threats in Aleksandar Mitrovic and Salem Al-Dawsari. Together, they combined for 55 goals and 25 assists in all competitions this past season, leaving an unbelievable void in attack; while Hassan al-Tambakti, a central defender who is the preferred partner of Kalidou Koulibaly in the heart of defence, was also sidelined after injuring his knee in training on the eve of the game. It meant Neves, their best midfielder, was deployed in the heart of defence, forcing other reshuffles across the pitch. Against a stacked Manchester City side that had replenished its stocks significantly ahead of this tournament, this was a game that Al Hilal would ordinarily have had no right winning. But this is also why football is the beautiful game; the impossible made possible. The scenes of celebration in the dressing rooms, and across the cafes and streets of Riyadh in the early hours of Tuesday morning, were reminiscent of another of Saudi football's recent milestone moments – their 2-1 win over Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar. The shockwaves of this result will reverberate around the football world in the same way. After two years of distraction about money and potential star acquisitions at Al Hilal, this match was the coming-out party for club football in Saudi Arabia.
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: Real Madrid vs Juventus – FIFA Club World Cup
Real Madrid face Juventus in an all-European round-of-16 tie at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. The match at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, United States, kicks off at 15:00 EDT (19:00 GMT).
ILoveQatar.net
6 hours ago
- ILoveQatar.net
Qatar explores bid to host Club World Cup 2029
According to The Guardian, Qatari representatives recently met with senior FIFA officials in the United States to formally discuss the possibility of hosting the Club World Cup 2029. Qatar previously hosted the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ in winter to avoid the extreme summer heat. Their proposal includes holding the tournament in December 2029, which has sparked opposition from European leagues due to potential disruptions to their domestic calendars. The Qatari bid emphasises a carbon-neutral tournament, leveraging existing World Cup stadium infrastructure to minimise costs and reduce travel for teams and fans. Unlike the current U.S. format, which spans 11 cities, Qatar proposes a compact, centralised tournament, citing its proven readiness and sustainable approach.
