Despite Bounou’s Heroics, Fluminense Beat Al Hilal to Reach Club World Cup Semifinals
Rabat – Brazilian side Fluminense have advanced to the semifinals of the Club World Cup after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, today.
The match kicked off with both teams struggling to create clear chances, and it took until the 40th minute for Fluminense to break the deadlock through Martinelli.
Right before the break, Al Hilal thought they had a chance to equalize when the referee awarded them a penalty after Leonardo went down in the box. However, the VAR ruled there was no foul.
Al Hilal came back stronger in the second half. They leveled the score in the 51st minute when defender Kalidou Koulibaly headed the ball down in the box, and Leonardo smashed it in from close range.
But Fluminense weren’t done. Just 19 minutes later, Hercules scored the winning goal. His first shot was blocked, but he kept pushing and managed to slot the ball into the bottom corner, making it 2-1.
Al Hilal had a few more chances to score but couldn’t find the net again. One of the main reasons they stayed in the game as long as they did was their goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou. He made several important saves, including a key one-on-one stop against Fluminense’s Cano. Without him, the score could have been worse for the Saudi side. That said, Al Hilal’s defense showed some worrying gaps, especially in the build-up to both goals.
Despite the loss, Al Hilal showed moments of quality, especially through Leonardo and Milinkovic-Savic, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Fluminense’s determined performance.
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