Manchester City have crashed out of the FIFA Club World Cup with an unbelievable 4-3 extra time defeat to Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal in their Round of 16 match.
After Brazilian outfit Fluminense stunned Inter Milan earlier in the day, Al Hilal trumped that feat for biggest upset of the tournament so far by downing the English Premier League juggernaut with two extra time goals at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
Marcos Leonardo was the hero for the Saudi side with a brace, including the match winner in the 112th minute, that earned him player of the match honours.
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City goalkeeper Ederson pulled off an impressive save to deny Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s header from point-blank range, but 22-year-old Brazilian Leonardo pounced on the spillage at the far post.
It was the third time in the game that Al Hilal took the lead as they were simply relentless.
Former England international Andros Townsend said after the final whistle that City, whose squad was valued at $8 billion by Forbes in May, were “shellshocked”.
The match was locked at 2-2 after regular time before former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly headed home in the fourth minute of extra time to put the underdogs in front again.
The Senegal international’s powerful header was cancelled out by Phil Foden’s equaliser, which made it appear as if City would pull off a great escape.
Less than four minutes after coming onto the pitch, new signing Rayan Cherki played a beautiful, floating ball to Foden at the far post, who slid in and finished with his left foot across the face of goal in the 104th minutes.
The dramatic swings in momentum were not limited to extra time.
Al Hilal scored twice in seven minutes immediately after half time in an incredible comeback after Bernardo Silva gave City a 1-0 lead at the half.
City manager Pep Guardiola was left seething, losing his cool at the referee with the sides locked at 2-2 at the end of regular time.
The esteemed manager was gesturing with intense passion as he felt disgruntled by the match referee’s call to blow the whistle to signal the end of regulation time and not a free kick for Jeremy Doku, who had been brought down after getting on the end of Ederson’s thumping punch clearances and charging towards goal.
Guardiola’s outburst showed that the tournament did mean something to City after a rare trophyless season, but they will now leave for their summer holidays with a bad taste in their mouths.
Pep Guardiola confronted the referee after the full time whistle.
Pep Guardiola confronted the referee after the full time whistle.Source: FOX SPORTS
The opening 45 minutes was relatively lacklustre with proceedings going to script for Guardiola’s side.
Silva’s opener in the ninth minute was scrappy but it drew the ire of the Saudis as they believed there was a handball in the build-up.
Regardless, City seemed fairly in control.
Something changed at half time as the speed of the game went into overdrive when the two teams emerged from the dressing room.
Marcos Leonardo levelled the scores in the 46th minute with a free header after the ball pinballed around in the box, including off the gloves of City shot stopper Ederson.
City were caught on the counter-attack again just six minutes later as former Bordeaux, Barcelona and Brazil winger Malcom snuck out the back in pursuit of an excellent ball from former City defender Joao Cancelo to give Al Hilal the lead.
It was the wake-up call City clearly needed as another scrappy affair in the box lead to their second goal in the 55th minute with Erling Haaland pouncing to level the scores.
Three goals in the space of just ten minutes had everybody in disbelief into what was going on, and shortly after the restart following Haaland’s goal, Malcom almost drew a penalty.
The contact was clear that the Brazilian had been brought down, and the referee would have been pointing to the spot had it not been for the linesperson’s flag.
VAR was consulted to ensure that the correct decision had been made, and it had been as replays showed Malcom to be ever so slightly offside when he was played through.
Despite the respite on that instance, City were still well and truly in the mud and needed to fight their way out.
Malcom was soon forced off with an injury but the City defence was still under the pump.
Substitute Manuel Akanji saved the day with a desperate slide tackle that possessed fine margins between a certain penalty and a superb clearance.
Ruben Dias also poked the ball away on the cusp of the second half hydration break to deny Al Hilal another good look at goal.
At the other end of the pitch, Jeremy Doku somehow sent a header high over the bar from close range after another scrap in the box following a City corner.
Four minutes later, Mohammed Kanno had a free header to give the Saudi side the lead again but failed to generate enough power to threaten City’s goal.
The near misses continued as Haaland was somehow denied in the 84th minute.
Another City corner created headaches for Al-Hilal with Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou leaping high and wide to keep a header out of the top corner of the net at the far post, but it could only spill to Haaland.
The Norwegian appeared set to celebrate recapturing the lead as he fired off a shot, only for substitute Ali Lajami to clear it off the line with his first touch of the match.
Bounou’s heroics continued a minute later as he tipped away a powerful long-range shot from Dias.
Then Haaland threatened again from the resulting set piece, but the ball simply spilt to the goalkeeper.
City’s goalscoring machine was substituted at the beginning of extra time in the need of fresh legs and he could only watch from the sidelines for the added half hour.