Al Hilal Advances to Club World Cup Round of 16 With 2-0 Win Over Pachuca
Salem Aldawsari scored in the 22nd minute, and Al-Hilal beat Pachuca 2–0 on Thursday night to clinch a berth in the Club World Cup round of 16.
Marcus Leonardo also scored for Al-Hilal, the only team outside Europe and the Americas to advance out of group play. Al-Hilal will next face English club Manchester City on Monday in Orlando, Florida.
Aldawsari, attacking from the left, scored with the ball bouncing off his right foot and soaring over the head of Pachuca goalie Sebastian Jurado to the right side of the goal. The game drew 14,147 to Geodis Park, which has a capacity of 30,000.
Key Moment: As Pachuca kept trying to keep the pace up, Leonardo scored his first goal of the tournament in the last minute of extra time, dribbling swiftly past Jurado and sending a left-footed shot in to secure Al-Hilal's spot in the round of 16.
Takeaways: Al-Hilal is the second team from Group H to move on, as Real Madrid clinched through a 3–0 victory against RB Salzburg. Pachuca ended the tournament winless.
What They Said: 'These are not easy games, and we are in the Club World Cup, so every team that is here, they have potential. It was a hard game…so clean sheet and the win, and we are through. That's the most important.' – Ruben Neves of Al-Hilal
'Every player wants to score. My goal was ambitious, and scoring was the cherry on top.' – Salem Aldawsari of Al-Hilal
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