Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal stunned Manchester City with a dramatic 4-3 victory in extra time on Monday, eliminating the reigning European champions from the FIFA Club World Cup in what is considered the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
The round of 16 match, held at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, ended 2-2 after regulation time before Al Hilal sealed the win in extra time, with Marcos Leonardo scoring the decisive goal.
City initially took the lead in the ninth minute through Bernardo Silva after a cross from Rayan Ait-Nouri. Al Hilal players protested, claiming Ait-Nouri handled the ball during the build-up, but the goal stood. Despite multiple opportunities to extend the lead, Manchester City were held at bay by Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who made several key saves.
Al Hilal equalized shortly after halftime. A cross from Joao Cancelo led to a scramble in City’s box, and Leonardo headed home after a blocked shot. Just six minutes later, Malcolm capitalized on a long ball from Cancelo, outrunning City’s defense and scoring to put the Saudi side ahead 2-1.
Pep Guardiola reacted with a triple substitution, bringing on Rodri, Nathan Ake, and Manuel Akanji, which stabilized City’s defense. Erling Haaland later equalized in the 64th minute, taking advantage of a failed clearance from a corner to make it 2-2.
City pressed for a winner, but Bounou continued to frustrate their efforts with crucial saves. Ali Lajami also made a goal-line clearance to deny Haaland.
In extra time, Kalidou Koulibaly restored Al Hilal’s lead with a powerful header from a Ruben Neves corner. City responded with a fine finish from Phil Foden, assisted by Rayan Cherki, leveling the score at 3-3.
However, Al Hilal were not done. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s header was saved by Ederson, but Marcos Leonardo was on hand again to score the rebound and seal the victory at 4-3.
An emotional Leonardo dedicated his goals to his mother, who had recently recovered after spending 70 days in the intensive care unit.
“I’ve had a difficult time in the last two months. My mother spent 70 days in the ICU. Today she’s fine, thank God. When I scored those two goals, I thought of her. She was able to watch the match,” Leonardo said.
Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva admitted the team had failed to manage Al Hilal’s counterattacks.
“We scored three and could’ve scored five, six. It was all about controlling when we lost the ball, controlling the transitions, don’t let them run, and they ran way too many times,” Silva said. “With one, two passes there was always a feeling of danger coming from them. When we allow teams to run like this, we always suffer a lot, and today was the case.”
With the win, Al Hilal advanced to the quarter-finals, where they will face Brazilian side Fluminense, ensuring that a non-European team will reach the tournament’s final four.
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