Al Hilal Advances to Club World Cup Quarterfinals to Face Manchester City
Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia advanced to the Round of 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup, held in the United States, after defeating Mexico’s Pachuca 2-0. The result placed them second in Group H behind Spain’s Real Madrid with five points, setting up a clash with English side Manchester City, who had beaten Italy’s Juventus 5-2 in Group G.
After drawing their first two matches—1-1 against Real Madrid and 0-0 against Austria’s Salzburg—“Al-Zaeem” (The Leader) secured their first win under Italian coach Simone Inzaghi, who took charge on June 5 after leaving Inter Milan. The four-time Asian champions also recorded their fourth win in Club World Cup history, with four draws and four losses across four appearances.
Salem Al-Dawsari opened the scoring for Al Hilal with a chip over the goalkeeper after a pass from Nasser Al-Dawsari (23). Brazilian forward Marcos Leonardo added the second after receiving a ball from Portuguese midfielder Rúben Neves, dribbling past the goalkeeper and slotting it home (90+5).
In the other match of the same group, Real Madrid earned their second win under new head coach Xabi Alonso by scoring twice in the first half. The opener came from Brazilian Vinícius Júnior, who latched onto a long pass from Englishman Jude Bellingham, dribbled past French defender Johann Gadou, and fired into the net (40).
Uruguayan Federico Valverde made it 2-0 after Vinícius set him up with a backheel pass, finishing with a low shot to the right of the goal (45+3).
Youngster Gonzalo García sealed the win with a third goal following a counterattack and a defensive mistake, which he exploited with a solo finish (84).
Arab Clash for Al Ain
UAE side Al Ain triumphed in their Arab showdown with Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca, winning 2-1.
After falling behind to a goal by South African Cassius Mailula, who struck powerfully from inside the box following a pass from Mohamed Mofid (4), Al Ain equalized through Togolese striker Kodjo Laba from the penalty spot (45+1).
Paraguayan midfielder Kaku scored the winner with a powerful shot from inside the area after receiving a pass from Argentine Matías Palacios (50).
In a rematch of their group stage meeting in the UEFA Champions League—where Juventus had beaten Manchester City 2-0 in Turin—City exacted their revenge with a 5-2 victory.
City dominated the game and took the lead in the 9th minute through Belgian Jérémy Doku, who outmaneuvered Frenchman Pierre Kalulu after a precise pass from new Algerian signing Rayan Aït-Nouri and finished into the net (9).
Juventus quickly equalized when Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson misplaced a pass that was intercepted by Dutchman Toon Koopmeiners, who drove forward and fired into the goal (11). Then, Kalulu mistakenly deflected a cross from Portuguese Matheus Nunes into his own net (26).
Manchester City maintained their dominance and continued to threaten Michele Di Gregorio’s goal, but the score remained unchanged until the early minutes of the second half when Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, who had replaced Egypt’s Omar Marmoush, extended the lead with a third goal from another Nunes cross (52).
Phil Foden made it four less than three minutes after coming on, finishing off a pass from Brazilian Savinho, who had received the ball from Haaland following a free kick by Ederson (69).
Savinho further deepened Juventus’ woes with a stunning strike from outside the box after a corner kick, making it 5-1 (75), before Serbian Dušan Vlahović pulled one back with a through ball from Turkish youngster Kenan Yıldız (84).
