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Published On 1 Jul 2025
Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal person sent English giants Manchester City crashing retired of the Club World Cup, snatching a daze 4-3 triumph successful other clip successful the biggest upset of the tourney truthful far.
The lucifer finished 2-2 astatine full-time connected Monday, but astatine the extremity of an eventful extra-time, Marcos Leonardo grabbed the victor and pulled disconnected 1 of the top wins successful Middle Eastern shot history.
The Saudi nine present beforehand to the quarterfinals, wherever they volition look Brazilian nine Fluminense, ensuring a non-European squad volition scope the past four.
Man City had taken the pb successful the ninth infinitesimal successful arguable fashion, with Bernardo Silva finishing aft Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross.
Al Hilal players protested that Ait-Nouri had controlled with his limb successful the build-up, but the extremity stood.
Man City had plentifulness of opportunities to widen their pb earlier the break, but a operation of mediocre finishing and inspired goalkeeping from Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou kept the pb astatine a azygous goal.
Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was 1 of the heroes for Al Hilal arsenic helium blocked respective chances from Manchester City, including 1 from Erling Haaland [Patricia Del Mero Moreira/AFP]Al Hilal offered respective reminders of their menace connected the interruption but Man City had adjacent much chances, with Jeremy Doku volleying consecutive astatine Bounou, who moments aboriginal reacted superbly again to support retired a Bernardo effort.
The question arsenic to whether Man City would unrecorded to regret not converting those chances was answered wrong a infinitesimal of the resumption.
Former City full-back Joao Cancelo’s debased transverse was parried retired by Ederson. Malcolm pounced but saw his changeable blocked by Ruben Dias, lone for the shot to loop to Marcos Leonardo to caput location the equaliser.
Six minutes later, and City’s precocious antiaircraft enactment was exposed by a agelong shot from Cancelo, which Brazilian Malcolm raced onto, showing powerfulness and gait arsenic helium broke distant earlier coolly slotting past Ederson.
The Saudi fans successful the assemblage went chaotic portion City manager Pep Guardiola responded instantly with a triple substitution, with midfielder Rodri and defenders Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji introduced.
That brought immoderate much-needed stableness to a shaky backmost enactment but City needed betterment astatine the different extremity too, and it came, albeit successful scruffy circumstances.
The Al Hilal defence were incapable to woody with a Bernardo country and Haaland pounced to steer location the escaped shot and marque it 2-2.
City piled connected the unit arsenic they looked for the victor but yet again Bounou proved their nemesis arsenic helium denied Akanji and Ruben Dias, and adjacent erstwhile helium was beaten by Haaland, substitute Ali Lajami produced a magnificent goal-line clearance.
Guardiola took disconnected Haaland and introduced Egyptian guardant Omar Marmoush arsenic the crippled went into other time.
But for each City’s depth, Al Hilal had a heavy good of tone to gully upon. Just 4 minutes into the opening period, Al Hilal regained the pb erstwhile Kalidou Koulibaly roseate superbly to conscionable a Ruben Neves country with a brilliantly angled header.
Kalidou Koulibaly, centre, celebrates with teammates aft scoring Al Hilal’s 3rd extremity [John Raoux/AP]City responded with a extremity of existent prime erstwhile Rayan Cherki’s brilliantly floated shot towards the backmost station was poked location masterfully by Phil Foden, astatine afloat agelong and from the tightest of angles.
But incredibly, Al Hilal responded again to reconstruct their lead: Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s header was saved by Ederson but Marcos Leonardo followed successful to bundle the shot implicit the line.
As the celebrating Al Hilal fans poured retired of the stadium, the Brazilian striker fto his emotions determination out, too.
“I’ve had a hard clip successful the past 2 months. My parent spent 70 days successful the ICU,” helium said.
“Today, she’s fine, convey God. When I scored those 2 goals, I thought of her. She was capable to ticker the match.”
City skipper Bernardo Silva said his squad had paid the terms for being incapable to woody with Al Hilal’s counter-attacking.
“We scored 3 and could’ve scored five, six. It was each astir controlling erstwhile we mislaid the ball, controlling the transitions, don’t fto them run, and they ran mode excessively galore times,” helium said.
“With one, 2 passes, determination was ever a feeling of information coming from them. When we let teams to tally similar this, we ever endure a lot, and contiguous was the case,” helium said.
Al Hilal players observe their triumph implicit Manchester City astatine the extremity of the lucifer [John Raoux/AP]Source:
Al Jazeera and quality agencies
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