English Premier League giants, Manchester City, have suffered their biggest shock in recent years as they were knocked out of the Club World Cup by Saudi Pro League club, Al-Hilal, earlier today, July 1.
Manchester City are the reigning champions of the Club World Cup and they were expected to go all the way to the final. Unfortunately, the expectations of most football enthusiasts were cut short in a theatrical manner.
Before the round of 16 game, coach Pep Guardiola and his boys had not tasted defeat in the ongoing tournament, and their first defeat in the tournament was not expected to come at the hands of a club like Al-Hilal.
During the match, Manchester City took the lead as early as the 9th minute when Bernardo Silva slotted home a pass from Ilkay Gündoğan.
Following the early goal, most spectators at the Camping World Stadium in Florida expected a whitewash from the Premier League side. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as City couldn’t score another goal until the second half of the encounter.
Before City’s second goal, Al-Hilal had already launched a come back into the encounter thanks to Marcos Leonardo’s equaliser in the 46th minute. Malcom gave the Saudi Pro League side their first lead in the game in the 52nd minute.
Al-Hilal’s lead lasted for just three minutes before Erling Haaland stepped up to score City’s long-awaited second goal.
With that, the game was forced into extra time where the Saudi side continued to go shoulder to shoulder with the Premier League giants. Their effort paid off as Rúben Neves assisted Kalidou Koulibaly to restore their lead.
Manchester City fought back intensely until Rayan Cherki found a space to set up Phil Foden in the 104th minute of the encounter.
With that, most of the 42,311 spectators at the stadium thought the best the Saudi side would get from the match was a draw and a penalty shootout. However, City’s dreaded nightmare finally came true when Leonardo scored his second goal in the encounter in the 112th minute.
Unfortunately for Guardiola and his boys, they couldn’t recover from the late goal as the dramatic encounter ended 4-3 in favour of the Saudi Pro League side.
While Manchester City will return to England to commence preparation for the next Premier League campaign, Al-Hilal will remain in Orlando as they prepare to take on Brazilian side Fluminense in the quarter-final of the Club World Cup on Friday.
