Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Club World Cup history on Monday night, beating European champions Manchester City 4-3 after extra time in a dramatic last-16 match.
Rival City, the team that claimed the trophy in 2023 and came to this version as favorites, had an early lead, courtesy of a goal by Bernardo Silva in the 9th minute. Although the Manchester City team possessed the ball and made many attempts, Pep Guardiola’s team failed to control breaks by Al Hilal and missed a comfortable goal to score.
The match of the game became very exciting. Marcos Leonardo converted an equalizer early in the second half for his side, Al Hilal, and Malcom immediately responded to dominate with a goal that put the Saudi club 2-1 ahead. City came back through an Erling Haaland strike that took the score to 2-2 to go into extra time.
During the other half hour, Al Hilal got back into the lead with a header scored by Kalidou Koulibaly. Phil Foden then made an outstanding equalizer to draw the game up 3-3. However, the breakthrough took place on the 112thminute when Leonardo turned out to score the second goal after rebounding the ball after Ederson had made a save on the head of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Al Hilal have moved on to the quarter finals, where they take on Fluminense of Brazil. It is unfavorable and a shock to both fans and the manager of Manchester City (Mancity) to be ejected at the early stage of the competition.
Leonardo, an emotional character after the final whistle, dedicated his goals to his mother, who recently spent 70 days in intensive care. I said she is better now and managed to watch the game.
Guardiola acknowledged that the City had lost control in decisive situations. We got opportunities but did not use them too much. It has to come down to being clinical in the end, as he said.
Although Manchester City had an upper hand in the possession game and the number of shots, it did not convert their shots well. The win is a win of history and is a significant statement in the world of football by Al Hilal.
