Al Hilal stun Man City in Club World Cup
Kalidou Koulibaly, centre, celebrates after he puts his team ahead 3-2 in extra time. Al Hilal come away with a 4-3 win. Photo: Reuters
Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal sent English giants Manchester City crashing out of the Club World Cup on Monday, snatching a shock 4-3 victory in extra time in the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
The round of 16 match in Orlando finished 2-2 at full-time 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 quarter-finals where they will face Brazilian club Fluminense, ensurg 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 also had 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 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.
Al Hilal had a deep well of spirit to draw upon and just four minutes into the opening period of extra time, the Saudi side 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 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 after the final whistle, 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." (AFP)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
11 hours ago
- RTHK
Dortmund down Monterrey to reach Club WC last eight
Dortmund down Monterrey to reach Club WC last eight Serhou Guirassy scored twice for the Bundesliga side in the victory. Photo: Reuters Serhou Guirassy continued his superb form to fire Borussia Dortmund to a 2-1 win over Sergio Ramos' Monterrey and into the Club World Cup quarter-finals. The striker scored twice in the first half and Bundesliga powerhouses Dortmund then held off the Mexican side in a battling second after German Berterame's quick strike. Former Real Madrid great Ramos had a golden chance to equalise at the end but headed wide, meaning it is Dortmund who go on to face the Spanish giants in the last eight after they beat Juventus earlier on. After grinding through several games in the blazing afternoon sun during the group stage, Dortmund were grateful to be at the air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz Stadium and played at a faster pace in Atlanta. Monterrey coach Domenec Torrent warned his side they had to defend diligently to have a hope of beating Dortmund, but the Germans picked the locks too easily to open the scoring in the 14th minute. Guirassy exchanged quick passes with Karim Adeyemi on the edge of the box to confuse defender Jorge Rodríguez, and then tucked a slick finish home at the near post. The 29-year-old Guinea international, who finished as joint-top scorer in the Uefa Champions League this season, netted his second 10 minutes later. Jesus Corona came close to levelling by accident in between, but his cross bounced back off the post. Guirassy climbed to 37 goals for the season across all competitions as he was once more teed up by the darting Adeyemi, stroking home from the edge of the box. Dortmund coach Niko Kovac anticipated Monterrey playing with aggression but his side put in the harder tackles in the first half and Jobe Bellingham was booked for needlessly flying in on Colombian playmaker Nelson Deossa. It means he will not be able to face his older brother Jude Bellingham in the quarter-final showdown against Real. Guirassy let Monterrey off the hook when he might have netted a third and Adeyemi's touch was loose when he got in behind. (AFP)
RTHK
12 hours ago
- RTHK
Gilgeous-Alexander agrees record contract extension
Gilgeous-Alexander agrees record contract extension The deal gives Gilgeous-Alexander the highest annual salary in NBA history. File photo: Reuters Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has agreed a four-year US$285 million contract extension, the richest per-year contract in NBA history, according to US media reports. Gilgeous-Alexander, who guided the Thunder to the NBA championship last month after a campaign that saw him win regular season and finals Most Valuable Player awards, is now tied to the club through 2031. The 26-year-old Canadian point guard has two years remaining on his existing contract with Oklahoma City worth US$79.1 million. The four additional seasons of his contract extension will see him receive US$62.5 million, US$68.6 million, US$73.7 million and then US$78.7 million in 2030-2031. The deal gives Gilgeous-Alexander the highest annual salary in the NBA, eclipsing the average US$64.3 million salary of the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid and the US$62.8 million earned by the Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum. Gilgeous-Alexander was the fulcrum of the Thunder's dazzling 68-win Western Conference season, before inspiring the team to a 4-3 NBA Finals victory over the Indiana Pacers last month. The Thunder ace averaged a league-high 32.7 points during the regular season and 30.3 points in the NBA Finals on his way to completing his MVP double. He became only the fourth player in history to win both NBA regular season and finals MVP awards as well as the league's scoring title, putting him into an exclusive club alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. (AFP)
RTHK
16 hours ago
- RTHK
Gauff, Zverev out as top seeds fall at Wimbledon
Gauff, Zverev out as top seeds fall at Wimbledon Gauff's defeat in the first round is the biggest upset of the tournament so far this year. Photo: Reuters China's Wang Xinyu reached the second round with a straight-sets wins over Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova. Photo: AFP Coco Gauff crashed out of Wimbledon on a day of significant first-round shocks but defending champion Barbora Krejcikova kept her nerve to battle back from a set down. US second seed Gauff came to the All England Club with high hopes after winning the French Open last month but was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 by Ukranian world number 42 Dayana Yastremska. Other high-profile casualties on day two of the grass-court Grand Slam were women's third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen. Instead of building on her success on the Paris clay, 21-year-old Gauff endured her earliest Grand Slam exit since another first-round loss at Wimbledon in 2023. The two-time Grand Slam champion paid the price for an unusually error-strewn display featuring nine double-faults, 29 unforced errors and just six winners. Earlier, US Open runner-up Pegula suffered a shock defeat against Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto, losing 6-2, 6-3 in just 58 minutes. Pegula was followed out of the tournament by Olympic champion Zheng, who went down 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 against unheralded Katerina Siniakova. But Zheng's compatriot, Wang Xinyu cruised past the 15th seeded Karolina Muchova in straight sets 7-5, 6-2. The 23-year-old built on the fine form she exhibited at the Berlin Open, where she reached her first WTA Tour final by defeating four top-20 players in a row. In the men's draw, third seed Alexander Zverev bowed out of the tournament, beaten in five sets by French world number 72 Arthur Rinderknech, giving a bleak assessment of his state of mind after the match. The German, who reached the Australian Open final earlier this year, suffered his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2019 after a marathon match that started on Monday evening. Afterwards he made surprisingly frank comments, saying he was considering therapy to talk through his mental health issues. "It's funny, I feel very alone out there at times," he said. "I struggle mentally. I've been saying that since after the Australian Open." (AFP/Xinhua)
